Latest news with #STOSARII
Zawya
29-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Building capacity for sustainable value chains in Southern Africa: STOSAR II project equips regional experts
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through its Subregional Office for Southern Africa (SFS), convened a regional training workshop on innovative value chain development methodologies from 7 to 9 July in Pretoria, South Africa. The workshop was organized under the European Union (EU)-funded STOSAR II Project, in partnership with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat and other regional stakeholders. The two-and-a-half-day workshop brought together 55 national experts and officials from 16 SADC Member States, alongside representatives from FANRPAN, AUDA-NEPAD, SACAU, and other partners committed to advancing agricultural transformation across the region. In his opening remarks, Dr Lewis Hove, FAO Resilience Team Leader for Southern Africa, who, speaking on behalf of Dr Patrice Talla, the FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa, underscored the workshop's significance as a key milestone for STOSAR II: Dr Hove said, 'Today's workshop marks a significant milestone for STOSAR II. It is one of the first major regional activities under the second phase of the project, and it brings to life a key new focus on Value Chains. This component reflects our collective ambition to turn data and strategies into real improvements along agricultural value chains, leaving no one behind.' The workshop focused on equipping national experts and officials with the knowledge and tools to develop inclusive, evidence-based, and digitally enabled value chains. Participants explored how instrument-based approaches to investment planning can inform and strengthen National Agricultural Investment Plans (NAIPs) and Sector Development Plan Agreements (SDPAs), ensuring that investments directly support country priorities and the regional agricultural policy framework. The sessions also highlighted inclusive aggregation systems and the growing role of information and communication technologies (ICT) and artificial intelligence (AI) in value chain development, which are innovations that can help improve market access, agricultural productivity, and sustainable economic opportunities for farmers and agribusinesses. Strengthening networks and sharing solutions The workshop further provided a platform to reinforce the SADC's Community of Practice on Agribusiness, Investment, and Trade, promoting peer learning, dialogue and regional collaboration. The African Union Development Agency (AU-NEPAD) Head of Agriculture, Dr Manyewu Mutamba, said: ' This intervention on value chains is both timely and strategic, as it directly supports the implementation of the CAADP Kampala Declaration on Building Resilient and Sustainable Agrifood Systems by focusing on agro-industrialization, trade, and increased investment in agrifood systems. This training initiative will contribute meaningfully to our shared goal of strengthening sustainable food systems across the continent.' Throughout the highly interactive sessions, participants shared national experiences, lessons learned and innovations shaping agrifood policy and practice in Southern Africa. Hands-on demonstrations showcased cutting-edge tools such as FAO's Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT), the only greenhouse gas accounting tool covering the entire agricultural sector and the RuralInvest toolkit, designed to support the preparation of bankable, sustainable business proposals. Participants also engaged with the latest ICT-enabled innovations from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), including remote sensing and earth observation technologies capable of high-accuracy soil analysis and yield prediction. A collective path forward As Southern Africa navigates a complex landscape of challenges and opportunities, the workshop reaffirmed the transformative potential of inclusive and innovative value chains. With support from the European Union, FAO and its partners are working hand-in-hand with national experts to help them lead this transformation and shaping agri-food systems that are more productive, resilient and inclusive. Continued collaboration will be key to transforming value chains into engines of resilience, growth and investment of a food-secure Southern Africa that leaves no one behind. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): Regional Office for Africa.
Zawya
16-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), European Union (EU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) launch EUR 10 million initiative to accelerate the implementation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Regional Agricultural Policy
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), has launched the second phase of the European Union (EU)-funded project Support Towards the Operationalization of the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy (STOSAR II). The launch, held in Gaborone, Botswana, marked a renewed commitment to advancing food and nutrition security, strengthening food security systems, enhancing climate resilience, and boosting regional agricultural value chains and market access across in the SADC region. The second phase builds on the achievements of STOSAR I, which was implemented from December 2018 to February 2024. Supporting the transformation of food systems STOSAR II aims to support the implementation of the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP) by enhancing institutional capacities, promoting regional integration, and supporting the transformation of food systems. Through this programme, countries will be better equipped to address key challenges affecting agriculture, including pests and diseases, climate change, under resourced value chains and limited market access. 'The STOSAR Project plays a pivotal role in operationalizing the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP), by enhancing agricultural productivity, inclusive value chains, and ensuring sustainable food systems that leave no one behind,' said Patrice Talla, FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa, during the launch. EU support for regional resilience and innovation The European Union is financing STOSAR II under its 'Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture' (DeSIRA) initiative. This support underscores the EU's commitment to enhancing agricultural transformation and resilience in the region. 'The EU and SADC agreed to sign the STOSAR II programme for EUR 10 million, the goal of which is to contribute to a climate-relevant, productive, inclusive and sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems,' said Clement Boutillier, Head of Development Cooperation, EU Delegation to Botswana and SADC. He added that 'By supporting regional integration through RAP, particularly in building regional value chains in the context of the global food crisis, the EU supports SADC countries to reduce dependency on external food imports and build resilient local systems.' Regional call for action Also speaking at the launch, the Acting Minister of Lands and Agriculture for Botswana, Edwin Gorataone Dikoloti, emphasized the need for collective action across the region. 'We must all join hands to build resilience and drive the transformation of our agrifood systems, ensuring a sustainable and prosperous future for agriculture in our region,' he said. 'STOSAR II is being launched in a time that the new CAADP process, guided by the Kampala Declaration, and approved by the African Heads of State and Government in January 2025, will also start to be operationalized. This process has shifted from pure agriculture focus to a wider agri-foods systems approach,' said Domingos Gove, Director of the SADC Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (FANR) Directorate. Key components of STOSAR II to drive impact STOSAR II will focus on four strategic components which are: Enhancing agricultural information systems to support evidence-based decision-making and facilitate regional trade; Strengthening strategies for the management of plant and animal pests and diseases, with improved compliance with international Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures; Improving food and nutrition security monitoring and implementation capacity in SADC Member States; and Increasing the operational capacity of agricultural institutions and value chain actors to promote innovation and sustainability, including agro-ecological approaches. A collaborative start to implementation The launch took place during a four-day inception workshop attended by over 120 participants from all 16 SADC Member States. The workshop provided a platform to review the project's implementation framework and initiate the development of country-level work plans to ensure effective implementation. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of FAO Regional Office for Africa.
