New SADC platform to boost agric potential
ASADC Agricultural Information Management System (AIMS) was officially launched in Gaborone on Wednesday. The platform is set to enhance the development of data-driven national, regional and global agricultural policies. SADC AIMS is a web-based application that is used to maintain statistical data on agriculture.
The SADC AIMS platform is a journey that began in December 2018 when the Support towards operationalisation of the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy Project better known as (STOSAR) began. Recognising the strategic importance of the agriculture sector in the SADC region, the European Union (EU) through its 11th Economic Development Fund programme of 2014 – 2020 (EDF 11) committed about €9 million towards STOSAR.
This flagship regional project was meant to address the challenges that constrain the performance of the agriculture sector in the region and increase access to export markets and trade opportunities.
The EU and the SADC Secretariat identified the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations as the lead implementing agency for the STOSAR Project.
Speaking at the launch, FAO sub-regional coordinator, Dr Patrice Talla revealed that the STOSAR project seeks to enhance the generation of agricultural data information through the establishment of an Agricultural Information Management System for production and for evidence-based decision-making.
Talla also highlighted that the project aims to improve access to markets by implementing plant and animal pest and disease control strategies at regional and national levels.
Speaking of disease control strategies, Botswana is currently battling the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak which was discovered at Zone 6 (b) on August 22. The government has since set aside P100 million to control the spread of disease in the zone.
“AIMS will provide SADC countries with standardised instruments necessary to produce and disseminate comparable statistical information to inform SADC policies.
It will also provide a common solution to the problem of fragmented data collection challenges within SADC MS and streamline them into a more standardised reporting format. The AIMS platform allows users that are part of the national AIMS technical committee to enter and update agricultural information and statistical data,” he explained.
He revealed that the built-in reporting engine generates data visualisation in real-time and is available to all users.
Talla further pointed out that AIMS seek to standardise and harmonise relevant agricultural data to allow users to channel data from different sources into a consistent, standardised, and comprehensive format for analysis.
For his part, SADC Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (FANR) director, Domingos Gove said they have been patiently waiting for the launch and were excited that the region now has its very own functional AIMS online platform.
“Unreliable and unharmonised data in the agricultural sector in Southern Africa has always been set-back for decision-makers at policy level, resulting in considerable delays in planning processes for the implementation of well-coordinated regional responses to curb threats that include transboundary pests and diseases such as the Fall Army worm and FMD that negatively impact on productivity and trade in the region,” Gove remarked.
He added that a fully functional agricultural information management system that generates data in real-time is the answer that policy-makers have been yearning for to facilitate and enhance the development of data-driven national, regional and global agricultural policies. Gove also emphasised that sound agricultural policies are the backbone of a thriving agricultural sector.
“They are strategic to SADC’s development by unlocking economic growth, increased incomes, improved living standards, poverty eradication, and enhanced food security for all member states.
Agriculture contributes between four percent and 27% of the Gross Domestic Product in the SADC Member States and the sector is also a major source of export earnings contributing on average about 13% of export earnings and about 66% to intra-regional trade,” he pointed out.
Gove said after the launch AIMS will now enable them to measure the results of national and regional policies and boost the region’s export potential.