Photo: FAO Mozambique /X

Mozambique has officially launched the second phase of the Support to the Operationalization of the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy (STOSAR II), a strategic initiative aimed at transforming agriculture and agrifood systems across Southern Africa. The announcement was made on October 13 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries (MAAP), in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat, and the European Union (EU).

STOSAR II, running from 2025 to 2028, is a €10 million programme funded under the EU’s Development-Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA) initiative. It builds on the achievements of STOSAR I (2018–2024), which significantly enhanced Mozambique’s agricultural data systems, pest surveillance, and diagnostic capacity.

During the first phase, Mozambique invested approximately USD 172,000 to modernize institutional frameworks and strengthen technical capacity. A total of 172 technicians were trained in Agricultural Information Management Systems (AIMS), animal health, and plant health. The project covered five provinces—Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane, Tete, and Manica—and equipped two laboratories to support national pest and disease diagnostics. Mozambique also played a pioneering role in piloting the regional AIMS platform, contributing to the AIMS Regional Strategy 2020–2025 and deploying a national data system with 12 integrated modules. These efforts were supported by advanced tools such as Kobo Collect, QGIS, Power BI, and STATA, and led to the establishment of the National AIMS Technical Committee to ensure interoperability with regional systems.

In the domain of plant health, Mozambique reinforced its surveillance and containment strategies against transboundary pests and diseases, including Fusarium TR4 affecting bananas, Tuta absoluta, fall armyworm, and maize lethal necrosis disease. The provision of ELISA diagnostic kits, microscopes, and pipettes further enhanced national diagnostic capabilities, laying a solid foundation for the scale-up envisioned under STOSAR II.

The second phase of the project will focus on four strategic pillars. First, it will enhance national AIMS platforms to support evidence-based decision-making. Second, it will strengthen sanitary and phytosanitary systems to control transboundary pests and diseases and improve market access. Third, it will support food and nutrition security through robust monitoring and early-warning systems. Fourth, it will promote inclusive value chains that create opportunities for women, youth, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in climate-resilient markets.

STOSAR II is aligned with the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP), adopted in 2013 to promote sustainable agricultural growth, food and nutrition security, and regional integration. It also supports the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), including the new CAADP Strategy 2026–2035 endorsed under the Kampala Declaration in January 2025. Through this alignment, STOSAR II aims to bolster food security, climate resilience, inclusive growth, and agro-industrialization across Mozambique and the broader SADC region.

Speaking at the launch, a government representative emphasized the project’s relevance to producers in Zambézia, who face daily threats from pests such as the fruit fly. The representative described STOSAR II as a commitment to national food and nutrition security and to Mozambique’s leadership in agrifood transformation. The FAO representative echoed this sentiment, stating that investing in agriculture is fundamentally about investing in people—producers, women, youth—and in the country’s future.

As Mozambique continues to position itself as a regional leader in agricultural innovation and resilience, STOSAR II represents a critical step toward achieving sustainable development goals and unlocking new trade and investment opportunities in the agrifood sector.