APPSA Holds World Bank Virtual Implementation Support Mission

The World Bank is conducting a virtual implementation support mission on the Agricultural Productivity Program for Southern Africa (APPSA) which is being held from the 31st of May to the 4th of June 2021. APPSA is a six-year project (2019 – 2025) financed by the World Bank, regionally coordinated by CCARDESA and currently implemented by Angola and Lesotho to establish Regional Centres of Leadership (RCoL) on cassava and horticulture, respectively. The objective of APPSA is to increase the availability of improved agricultural technologies in participating countries in the SADC region through: (i) establishing RCoLs on commodities of regional importance; (ii) supporting regional collaboration in agricultural research, technology dissemination, and training; and (iii) facilitating increased sharing of agricultural information, knowledge, and technology among participating countries. The project was previously (2013-2019) implemented by Malawi (Maize RCoL), Mozambique (Rice RCoL) and Zambia (Legumes RCoL).

The ISM started with virtual briefing and courtesy meetings with Permanent Secretaries from Ministries of Agriculture and Finance in Angola and Lesotho. There have been different presentations on project implementation progress in the areas of technology generation & dissemination, RCoL Capacity strengthening, Project coordination and management.

“During this mission, we will take stock of what we had set to do, identify bottlenecks, and make informed adjustments on the next course of action so that we achieve the overall goal as initially planned”, stressed CCARDESA Executive Director, Dr Cliff Dlamini.

The currently ongoing World Bank Implementation Support Mission (ISM) has brought together different APPSA implementing partners to jointly deliberate on accomplishments and challenges and set the pace to fast-track activities that are lagging behind due to challenges being experienced such as those related to COVID-19. 

In a nutshell, the mission is providing participants with an overview of regional activities such as R&D proposal, RCoL establishment, next implementation steps, partnerships as well as highlights of the 2021 annual workplan. It is also expected that each implementing partner shares planned activities, achievements, challenges, lessons learned and way forward.

Actively participating in the current mission are Directors of research from Angola and Lesotho, APPSA staff from both countries including CCARDESA, representatives from CGIAR Centres, representatives from Legumes, Maize and Rice RCoLs as well as from the University of Lesotho.