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SADC Regional Agricultural Policy
The SADC Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP) was approved in August 2014 with the
goal to contribute to the attainment of the SADC Common Agenda, which promotes sus-
tainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development. SADC RAP
is a broad policy framework that guides the development of the agriculture sector in the
region. The objectives are to enhance sustainable agricultural production, productivity
and competitiveness; improve regional and international trade and access to markets
of agricultural products; improve private and public sector engagement and in-
vestment in the agricultural value chains; and reduce social and economic vul-
nerability of the region’s population in the context of food and nutrition
security as well as the changing economic and climatic environment.

Regional Agricultural Investment Plan
The agricultural policy is implemented in phases, each comprising a five-
year Regional Agricultural Policy Investment Plan (RAIP). The first five-
year cycle, the RAIP 2017- 2022 was endorsed by Council in 2017. The
RAIP was prepared in the context of the Comprehensive African Agricul-
ture Development Programme (CAADP), which was established in Maputo
in 2003. The RAIP will be operationalised through an instrument-based im-
plementation mechanism.
The RAIP outlines priority programmes and sub-programmes identified
from the RAP Results Framework, where investment in the agriculture sector needs
to be focused. The priority programmes of the RAIP are: improved food and nutrition 123
security in the region; increased production, productivity and competitiveness in regional
value chains; increased access to markets and trade for agricultural products; increased in-
vestments in access to finance agriculture; and reduced social and economic vulnerability
in the SADC region.

Agricultural Development Fund
To support and accelerate the implementation of the RAIP 2017-2022, SADC also de-
veloped a financial instrument, the Agricultural Development Fund (ADF), structured to
provide financial support for the implementation of the national agricultural investment
plans within the framework the RAP and RAIP. The ADF was structured to leverage pri-
vate sector investment and financing into agriculture and comprises the following seven
facilities: value chain development; agricultural infrastructure development; markets and
trade; agricultural information management; food and nutrition security; environment
and natural resources; and governance and institutional development.

Regional Plant Genetic Resource Centre
Recognition of the importance of conserving plant genetic resources in Southern Africa
led to the establishment of the SADC Plant Genetic Resources Centre (SPGRC) in 1989.
Located in Lusaka, Zambia, the centre works in coordination with plant genetic resources
centres in each of the Member States to conserve and preserve the genetic diversity and
variability of Southern African plant stocks.
The SPGRC and its national counterparts also perform important roles in research,
documentation and training in the area of plant genetic resources conservation and sus-
tainable utilisation. National gene banks have been successfully established in all the 16
SADC countries.
The SADC PGRC holds more than 18,000 diverse crop and wild relative acces-
sions at the regional gene-bank in Lusaka, Zambia, and has facilitated the collection of
more than 62,000 accessions in Member States as the region steps up efforts to conserve
seed samples to deal with the loss of plant species associated with a changing and un-
predictable climate.