APPSA Joint Implementation Support Mission - CCARDESA, Angola and Lesotho

The World Bank and the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), in collaboration with Angola and Lesotho are carrying out a  virtual implementation support mission (ISM) from 19 to 23 October 2020, to review implementation progress and discuss challenges in implementation of the Agricultural Productivity Programme for Southern Africa (APPSA).

The event that also includes meetings with representatives from Ministries of Agriculture and Finance from Angola and Lesotho, covers aspects of technology generation and dissemination, development and capacity strengthening of Regional Centres of Leaderships (RCoLs), coordination and management, monitoring and evaluation, knowledge management, infrastructure development, partnerships, fiduciary (procurement and financial management) and safeguards activities.

“The desire is to see APPSA RCoLs established in the early phases of project implementation so that they can be fully functional by the time the project comes to an end.  This is a lesson that was learnt from the previous APPSA countries that established their centres towards the end of the project, thereby making it difficult to assess their functionality”, stressed Dr Monica Murata, the APPSA Regional Coordinator.

APPSA is part of the World Bank’s larger portfolio of regional agricultural productivity programs and is the third regional operation in a series that followed the successful implementation of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) and the East Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (EAAPP).

The project focuses on promoting regional collaboration among the participating countries and supports the generation and dissemination of technologies, innovations and management practices across national borders of participating countries in the SADC

APPSA is a 6 year regional programme currently implemented by Angola, Lesotho and coordinated by CCARDESA. Angola is leading on cassava and thus will establish the Cassava Regional Centre of Leadership (RCoL)  whereas Lesotho is focusing on horticulture and will be establishing the Horticulture Regional Centre of Leadership (RCoL)

During this Implementation Support Mission, the World Bank of about 20 experts from different thematic areas of interest for the project, is participating, led by Ms Tahira Syed the APPSA Task Team Leader (TTL).

Two implementation support missions are scheduled for each year, and the teams usually undertake field visits to assess the extent to which activities have been implemented, challenges being faced as well as lessons learnt. This ISM is taking place virtually due to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

CGIAR Institutions, Universities and Regional Institutions partnering with APPSA are among the partners attending the ISM and are sharing insights on the potential strong partnerships that exists and can be exploited by the APPSA project in each of the implementing countries. Some of the aspects highlighted in the ISM by partners were the capacity building, technical backstopping germplasm exchange, etc.

Note that APPSA was first implemented by Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia which have successfully established RCoLs on Maize, Rice and Legumes, respectively. Representatives from the countries were also invited to participate in the ISM.