English

In 2016, the Agricultural Productivity Programme for Southern Africa (APPSA) was in its third year of implementation in the three countries (Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia). CCARDESA provided the regional coordination role. The aim of APPSA is to strengthen and scale up regional cooperation in generation of technologies, capacity building, and knowledge sharing in food legumes, rice and maize. The project has three key components: (1) Technology Generation and Dissemination; (2) Strengthening Regional centres of Leadership; and (3) Coordination and Facilitation.

Madagascar occupe actuellement le 5ème rang mondial des pays les plus exposés aux risques dus au changement climatique et le 1er pays exposé en Afrique. Durant 30 ans depuis 1980, des aléas naturels notamment des sécheresses, tremblements de terre, épidémies, inondations, cyclones et températures extrêmes, ont causé des dommages économiques de plus de 1 milliard USD à Madagascar et le secteur agricole est parmi les secteurs durement touchés. Et selon les projections, ces risques devraient s’aggraver dans le futur. Face à cela, la FAO avec un financement du marché commun de l’Afrique Orientale et Australe (COMESA) en collaboration avec la communauté de l’Afrique de l’Est (EAC) et de la Communauté de développement de l’Afrique australe (SADC) a mis en œuvre le programme intitulé : « Programme sur l’adaptation et la mitigation au changement climatique dans les régions est et Sud de l’Afrique ». L’objectif de ce programme est d’appuyer la mise à l’échelle de l’adoption des techniques d’Agriculture Climato-Intelligente afin de renforcer les moyens de subsistance et d’assurer la sécurité alimentaire des petits producteurs dans les régions de l’Afrique de l’Est et Australe dont Madagascar.

This technical progress report covers the period from 1 January to 31 December 2015, and is intended to provide an update on key achievements during the reporting period. Implementation of the project activities at national and at regional level followed the three components, namely, (a) Technology Generation and Dissemination, (b) Strengthening of Regional Centres of Leadership and (c) Coordination and Facilitation. Regional coordination and facilitation activities were elaborated in the annual work plan that was developed by CCARDESA and endorsed by the implementing countries. The key activities in the work plan included Regional Review and Strategic Meetings, Technical backstopping and Networking, Monitoring and Evaluation, Facilitation of Information-sharing Platforms, Trainings and Workshops, Policy Harmonization and Advocacy. The country work plans were approved by the respective national steering committees.

This is the first technical progress report for the project and it covers the period from 1 July 2013 to 31 December 2014. The report is intended to provide an abridged update on key deliverables during the reporting period. Sequential reports will follow the agreed reporting cycle, i.e. semi-annual reports covering the activities of each semester (Jan to June and July to December).

Les secteurs de l’agriculture des pays en développement absorbent environ 22% de l’impact économique causé par les catastrophes et risques naturels de moyenne et grande échelle. L’intégration d’efforts d’adaptation et de financements dans ces secteurs est essentielle.

L’agriculture intelligente face au climat (AIC) est une approche permettant de définir les mesures nécessaires pour transformer et réorienter les systèmes agricoles. L’objectif est de soutenir efficacement le développement de l’agriculture et d’assurer la sécurité alimentaire face au changement climatique. Elle vise à traiter trois objectifs principaux : l’augmentation durable de la productivité et des revenus agricoles (sécurité alimentaire); l’adaptation et le renforcement de la résilience face aux impacts des changements climatiques (adaptation); et la réduction et/ou la suppression des émissions de gaz à effet de serre (l’atténuation).
Par ailleurs, l’AIC permet d’identifier les systèmes de production, les institutions et politiques favorables, les mieux adaptés pour répondre aux défis du changement climatique dans des conditions précises. Dans un même temps, l’AIC vise à accroître la productivité et/ou les revenus.

The PROIntensAfrica project demonstrates the potential of the diversity of pathways for sustainable intensification in agri-food systems. It identifies future challenges for science and innovation to address. It documentates the salient characteristics of a successfull bi-continental research and innovation partnership, and drafts an outline for such partnerships.

The impacts of climate change  are reducing the capacity of natural resources to sustain the demand of the increasing population.

Tanzania, an East African country, is endowed with important land and water resources that have a high agricultural potential. Agriculture is a key sector of Tanzania’s economy, as it accounts for 24.1 percent of GDP and is the source of livelihoods for more than three-quarters of the population. Majority of the population still live in rural areas although urbanization has increased in the last three decades to reach 38 percent.

The United Republic of Tanzania which comprises of the Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar islands is located south of the Equator in East Africa between latitudes 1o – 12o South and longitude 30o – 40o east. It is bounded to the North by Uganda and Kenya, on the East by the Indian Ocean, to the South by Mozambique and Malawi, to the South West by Zambia, and to the West by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda. Tanzania is mainly an agrarian society with agriculture, the mainstay of its economy, employing more than 80 percent of the total rural population  and accounting for 26.5 percent of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with over 21% contributed by the crop’s sector. In recent years, Tanzania has attained self sufficiency in food production with annual surpluses, probably a reflection of enhanced capacity for the sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) situated in the context of a series of functioning farming systems.

The CCARDESA 2015 Work plan devoted attention to driving activities initiated in previous years, particularly 2014.The operational momentum of activities was built up throughout 2014 with the awarding of CCARDESA supported research grants and implementation of a total of 69 projects. Therefore, the focus in 2015 was on accelerating the implementation of these activities including those identified as quick wins or low hanging fruits in the CCARDESA Medium Term Operational Plan (MTOP)

This report highlights the key achievements for CCARDESA in 2015. It is organised around the four thematic areas and cross-cutting themes that are of priority to the region. These four thematic Areas are: (1) Farmer Empowerment and Market Access; (2) Research and Technology Generation and Farmer Demanddriven Advisory Services and Innovation Systems; (3) Knowledge, Information and Communication; and (4) Institutional Development and Capacity Building. Under a resource-constrained environment facing R&D institutions globally, emphasis in 2015 was strategically directed at innovative implementation of regional activities across all the thematic areas.