The Agricultural Productivity Program for Southern Africa (APPSA) in Angola was officially launched on the 24th of February 2021 in Huambo (Angola), an event witnessed by key country and regional stakeholders such as the World Bank, Government representatives, APPSA Steering Committee, implementing partners, farmer organisations amongst a host of key participants.
This important milestone symbolically adds Angola to the list of APPSA participating countries alongside Lesotho in the current APPSA phase, following the successful implementation of this flagship program in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia from 2013 to January 2020. Angola and Lesotho are expected to implement APPSA until 2025.
Angola will take the lead on Cassava while Lesotho is establishing the Regional Center of Leadership (RCoL) in Horticulture. Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia have already established RCoLs on Maize, Rice and Legumes, respectively.
The establishment of the Cassava RCoL will set the pace for regional collaboration in the generation and dissemination of efficient and effective cassava AR4D technologies. The RCoL will facilitate the generation of critical solutions in the growing, harvesting and processing of Cassava. This will be tackled through development of networks, specialization and sharing of research data bases that are beyond the reach of individual countries.
In Angola, APPSA will support the development of the Cassava RCoL including the upgrading of research infrastructure, research fields, laboratories, office equipment, IT and knowledge management. APPSA will invest in human capital development through providing scientific training at graduate and post-graduate levels as well as skills and capacity development through short term courses to ensure sustainability of the Cassava RCoL programmes.
Cassava is the third most important source of human calories after rice and maize, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Nicknamed “the bread of the tropics” cassava is food source for over half a billion people around the world. Despite favourable conditions for growing cassava in most SADC countries, low yields still at the top of the agenda due to issues such as pests and diseases and use of local varieties.
APPSA is a World Bank funded initiative coordinated at regional level by the Center for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA). The project development objective of APPSA is to improve technology generation and dissemination within and among participating countries within the SADC region.
