Construction work on the Regional Cassava Leadership Center, costing around five million US dollars, will be completed in May 2024, with a view to supporting research and increasing the level of production of the tuber
The project, which is one of the components of the Agricultural Productivity Program for Southern Africa (APPSA), began last November and includes offices, laboratories and greenhouse and technical support areas. The information was provided yesterday by the coordinator of APPSA/Angola, Joaquim César, on the sidelines of a visit by technicians from the World Bank, the project’s financing entity, which aimed to evaluate its implementation.
Joaquim César said that, alongside the Regional Cassava Leadership Center, APPSA is developing 39 research projects focused on cassava, corn and beans crops, with a view to improving techniques and production levels, as well as boosting the value chain by family farmers.
On the other hand, he reported that the program has trained extensionists and financed postgraduate, master’s and doctoral courses in the agricultural sector. In turn, the World Bank’s senior agriculture specialist Aniceto Timóteo Bila highlighted the progress that has been made with the implementation of APPSA in Angola, especially in testing the adaptability of crops and their resistance to drought, in addition to the construction of the regional center. He added that the first results of the experiments will begin to be released in June 2024.
Funded by the World Bank (WB), APPSA is a regional project implemented by the Agricultural Research Institute in Angola and its counterpart in Lesotho, with the regional coordination of the Southern African Agricultural Research Coordination Center (CCARDESA). It aims to increase the availability of agricultural technologies, through the establishment of leadership centers for products of regional importance and support for agricultural research.
The project also focuses on the dissemination of technologies, training and sharing of knowledge between participating countries. In addition to the Cassava Leadership Center in Malanje (Angola), APPSA has Leadership Centers for rice in Mozambique, maize (Malawi), legumes (Zambia) and horticulture centers in Lesotho.