English

Falling prices of cotton, normally referred to as ‘‘white gold’’ is not good news for small- scale farmers in Eastern province, as the crop has been a source of livelihoods to them for many years. A significant decrease in the number of small-scale farmers currently growing cotton in the province has resulted in an increase in poverty levels. This has exposed small-scale farmers whose livelihood is derived from farming to much more challenging survival mechanisms.

Fleming Chookole, 49, of Mwiinga village in Chinkankata district in Zambia has returned to farming after abandoning it for blacksmithing for several years. Today, he is a lead farmer and inspirational Conservation Farming Unit (CFU) farmer among villagers- thanks to the Agricultural Productivity Programme for Southern Africa (APPSA) which introduced the crop and soil improvement programme to Fleming and his community.

The Agricultural Productivity Programme for Southern Africa (APPSA) embarked on an effort to promote sustainable value-addition to commonly grown food legumes and increase incomes among smallholder farmers in Zambézia and Niassa Provinces (Guruè, Lichinga, Cuamba, Muembe and Chimbonila Districts). About 913 small-scale farmers (610 females) were trained in legume grain selection, packaging, sealing and labelling. Forty (40) Extension staff were also trained so that they could train other farmers not reached by the project. APPSA introduced new agro- processing technologies of legumes in the same five districts, where the farmers were trained in processing of the legumes into different legume products. Farmers applied the agro-processing skills they learnt to improve food security and generate income through sales of their products.

Le Programme de productivité agricole de l'Afrique australe (APPSA) est une initiative conçue sur six ans (2013 à 2018) pour améliorer la production et la diffusion des technologies entre les pays participants en Afrique australe. Le programme est financé par le mécanisme de prêt de la Banque mondiale à hauteur de 30 millions de dollars US pour chaque pays participant. L'APPSA a été lancé avec la participation des trois pays suivants: Malawi, Mozambique et Zambie. D'autres pays de larégion de la SADC devraient s’y joindre au fur et à mesure de l'évolution du projet.

Agricultural productivity in the region is far below potential. Although productivity has increased in recent years within Southern Africa, most of the growth has come from bringing previously unculti- vated land into production, rather than from inten- sification made possible by technical change. Southern Africa offers attractive opportunities for regional research. Groups of countries within Southern Africa share similar agro-ecological zones and farming systems, suggesting that there is potential for finding shared solutions to common problems. Although technology spillover is already occurring within the sub-region, significant poten- tial remains for expanding spillovers.

The Agricultural Productivity Programme for Southern Africa (APPSA) is a six year (2013 –2018) initiative to improve technology generation and dissemination within and among participating countries in southern Africa. The Programme is funded by the World Bank loan facility to the tune of US$ 30 million for each participating country. APPSA has been launched with the participation of three countries—Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia. Other countries in the SADC region are expected to join as the project evolves.

This progress report describes key achievements during the project implementation period from 1 January to 31 December 2017. The project was in its 4th year of implementation.

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.