This €9 million programme aims to operationalise the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP) to improve production, productivity, competitiveness, food and nutrition security, and agro-industrial development.   

More specifically, the EU is supporting the RAP to 1) implement the regional Food and Nutrition Security Strategy; 2) enhance information management on agricultural production, sustainability and competitiveness for evidence-based decision-making; and 3) improve access to markets by deploying plant and animal pest and disease control strategies at the regional level.

The project recently launched a regional Agricultural Information Management platform to enhance the development of data-driven agricultural policies at the national, regional and global levels. The RAP has also strengthened the region’s livestock sector by addressing challenges constraining productivity and access to markets and trade, through better management of animal diseases and food safety risks. On crop production, the project has made great strides in boosting the ability of countries to tackle major transboundary plant pests that threaten the region’s crops. This included completing a strategy to manage the five most destructive of these pests.