APPSA gets the limelight in the joint Meeting of SADC Ministers of Agriculture, Food Security, Fisheries and Aquaculture
APPSA has been supporting R&D projects across the SADC region
This was shared by Dr Cliff Sibusiso Dlamini, the Executive Director of the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), in his opening remarks for the World Bank Implementation Support Mission (ISM) under the Agricultural Productivity Program for Southern Africa (APPSA), held through video conferencing from May 31 to June 4, 2021.
According to Dr Dlamini, the high-level commitment towards APPSA is a clear indicator that the program has been able to significantly contribute to fostering agricultural research and development in the SADC region.
“In the Ministers’ Meeting, SADC Member States noted the remarkable achievements under the APPSA Programme since its inception, and further pledged their strong support for the Programme going forward”, shared Dr Dlamini.
SADC Ministers responsible for Agriculture and Food Security, Fisheries and Aquaculture met virtually on 7 May 2021, to review progress in the implementation of the SADC relevant sectoral programmes, projects and related strategies under the Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP), in line with the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) (2020-2030).
Tahira Syed, the APPSA Regional Task Team Leader (TTL), views the increasing interest and commitment from the SADC Ministers of agriculture, food security, fisheries and aquaculture as an excellent window of opportunity for the program to advocate for other countries from the region to join the APPSA family.
“We should keep our eyes on the ball […] because it was through the good work that Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia did, we were able to get APPSA Angola and Lesotho and my real hope and wish is that we invite other new partners, other new member countries from the SADC member states who are willing to say we need another APPSA”, Tahira elaborated.
APPSA is a six year World Bank funded initiative aimed at promoting collaboration among SADC countries and has been supporting the generation and dissemination of technologies, innovations and management practices across the region.
