“This project will help researchers, farmers, extension agents, input distributors and other end users in Angola and Lesotho to strengthen linkages between themselves and other participating countries,” said Mark Cackler, World Bank Agriculture Practice Manager. He added that this is in line with the World Bank’s twin goal to reduce extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. Agriculture remains the primary source of subsistence, employment, and income for most of Southern Africa’s 330 million people. However, despite the region’s rich land and water resources, the productivity of the agriculture sector has not been fully exploited, which has undermined economic transformation.

Activities financed under APPSA include: Innovative Research and Development (R&D) technology generation and dissemination activities associated with the commodity groups or technology themes being targeted by participating countries as well as strengthening of the institutional and enabling environment for technology adaptation in these countries. These activities are in line with regional policies and programmes, including the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)’s Regional Agriculture Policy (RAP) and the African Union (AU)’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). The M712 million World Bank financing comes from M285Million of International Development Association (IDA) and M356 million from International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), M71 million will go towards the Centre for Coordination for Agriculture in Southern Africa (CCARDESA) as a facilitating partner.