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Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and
Development Unit
The Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and
Development Unit is tasked with the promotion of economic growth in
the agricultural sector through an integrated approach for improvement
of livelihoods, which includes management of natural resources for
greater sustainability, promotion of market access, policies, capacity
building and institutional change at all levels.
More specifically, the unit is addressing the following areas:
§ Promoting and coordinating
cooperation among SADC’s national agricultural research systems
and facilitating the exchange of information and technology among
them;
§ Promoting partnership between public
and private organisations in research and training;
§ Promoting the development of the
human resources in research and technology transfer to respond to
the needs and demands of the agricultural sector in accordance with
gender dynamics; and
§ Helping to mobilise human,
financial, technological and information resources to implement
demand-driven activities.
Among the projects currently being supervised by
the Agriculture and Natural Resources R&D Unit are:-
Implementation and Coordination of Agricultural
Research and Training (ICART)
Fund for Innovative and Regional Collaborative
Project (FIRCOP)
Multi-country Agricultural Productivity Programme
(MAPP)
Land and Water Management Applied Research
Programme (L&W Management)
SADC Plant Genetic Resources Centre
(SPGRC)
The regional challenges in research and development
(R&D) that need to be addressed through the National Agricultural
Research Systems (NARS) are:-
§ Developing new technologies to
empower the region to compete in the global economy, meet market
demand and increase crop and livestock production for food security
and poverty alleviation;
§ Promoting economic growth in the
agriculture and natural resources sector in an integrated manner in
order to improve livelihoods through sustainable management of
natural resources, greater access to markets and appropriate
policies; and
§ Changing the focus of research to
move beyond the traditional function of technology development to
meet the emerging need for research to directly address poverty and
the negative impacts of globalisation and GMOs.
Some of the Challenges in Current Policies and
Strategies highlighted in the Regional Indicative Strategic
Development Plan (RISDP), specific to Agricultural Research &
Training include:
§ Lack of a
market-oriented smallholder production system where research is
market led, demand driven and follows the commodity chain approach;
§ Poor
research-extension-farmer linkages, amelioration of which would
improve the transfer and adoption of technology;
§ Need for policies
and strategies to offset the high rate of natural resource
degradation, focusing on soil, water and biodiversity;
§ Focusing research on
soil fertility improvements, soil and water management, development
of
§ irrigation,
promotion of integrated livestock – wildlife-crop production
systems, and development of drought mitigation strategies;
§ Strengthening the
capacities of institutions and farmers' organizations to support
agricultural production systems;
§ Information and
communication for rural development; and
§ Integration of a
gender perspective in agricultural research and training.
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Southern
African Development Community
