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This resource is a regional report giving a general status of how agricultural information is being communicated in the region. It synthesizes reports which were developed by 12 SADC member states. The status is an attempt to inform development initiatives which are meant to support agricultural information communication and knowledge management in the region.

In Lesotho, FAO is distributing a series of illustrated guides, in English and Sesotho, to encourage and facilitate the construction of homestead gardens. The gardens are easily built using locally available material and are specially designed to improve soil fertility and capture moisture. With minimum maintenance, they can provide vegetables all year round.

Ce rapport évalue les évolutions des investissements, du capital humain et des résultats dans la recherche agricole en Afrique. Le rapport fait ressortir les grandes tendances transversales et les défis qui se dégagent des données nationales. La présentation de l’information est structurée selon quatre axes thématiques, à savoir la capacité de financement, le capital humain, les produits et résultats de la recherche, et la configuration institutionnelle.

This report assesses trends in investments, human resource capacity, and outputs in agricultural research in SSA, excluding the private (for-profit) sector. The analysis uses information collected by Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI)—led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) within the portfolio of the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM). The comprehensive datasets were derived from primary surveys, collected through a series of consecutive data collection rounds; a small number of secondary sources, where survey data were missing or of poor quality; and ASTI’s older investment and human resource datasets. This report highlights the cross-cutting trends and challenges that emerged from the country-level data, structuring it within four broad areas: funding capacity, human resource capacity, research outputs, and institutional conditions—all in terms of whether they support or impede the effective and efficient conduct of agricultural research. This report concludes with a set of policy recommendations for regional and national-level decision makers, and other stakeholders.

This resource is a request for proposals to carry out an external audit for CCARDESA secretariat for the period of three years starting from 2017.

Throughout Africa indigenous and indigenised vegetables and fruit have sustained rural populations for many centuries. Through natural selection by survival under local environmental conditions, aided by collection of seeds from top-performing plants only by local farmers, these have become adapted to these conditions. Unfortunately, indigenous plants have received scant attention by researchers in Africa (including South Africa) in regard to improving agronomic practices and upgrading genetic potential. Likewise, little attention has been given to studies on their nutritional value and the bio-availability of nutrients contained in them. It seems as if there has recently emerged new interest amongst South African researchers in these crops. It is hoped that this publication will help to promote this interest further.

This is a story of Patricia Dzimbiri a Malawian who was groomed by the Agricultural Productivity Program for Southern Africa (APPSA) project through participating in farmer field trials for conservation agriculture and maize/legume intercropping systems. She has grown into a lead farmer supporting conservation farming in her district.

This article is a success story in the production of groundnut seed in Zambia. When groundnut seed production was introduced in Minga area in Petauke district, it relieved farmers of the pressure of having to rely on cotton as the only valuable cash crop.
Unit Seed Company in partnership with small-scale farmers in Minga area engaged in seed production of groundnut. The farmers were provided with groundnut basic seed by Unit Seed Company and produced certified seed, which the company buys and then sells to prospective markets

This resource is an APPSA success story of introducing high yielding rice varieties in Malawi.  As part of efforts to improve rice production and increase export volumes, the Agricultural Productivity Programme for Southern Africa (APPSA) introduced
three high yielding rice varieties with a yield potential of up to 6.5 T ha-1. These are Kayanjamalo (6.5 T ha-1), Katete (6.0 T ha-1) and Mpatsa (5.8 T ha-1). These varieties were released in 2014 under the Department of Agricultural Research Services (DARS) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development. Since the release of the varieties, APPSA has been promoting these three varieties in Nkhotakota, Salima and Zomba districts targeting smallholder rice farmers. With desirable traits such as high yields and short height, the varieties gained popularity among the farming communities and within three years the number of adopters increased by more than 80%.

This is a success story produced by the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) under APPSA. Through partnerships with the Department of Agriculture and other players, the World Bank funded Agricultural Productivity Programme for Southern Africa (APPSA) supported smallholder farmers with necessary information and technologies to transform
the way they grow their soybean in order to increase farm yields and income. In collaboration with the Department of Agriculture under Extension Services the project mobilised lead farmers to host demonstration plots showcasing improved soybean production technologies.