Capacity development needs and roadmap

Andy Nelson and Benedito Cunguara

Research reports from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Abstract: This report integrates an assessment of institutional readiness for Earth observation (EO)-based crop monitoring in Mozambique with a roadmap for sustaining and scaling an EO and digital workflow for agricultural statistics. The aim is to: Baseline current capacity by systematically evaluating the institutional readiness and willingness within key government organizations to adopt and sustain EO-based systems. Identify gaps and risks by pinpointing specific challenges, from technical shortages to policy misalignments, that could prevent the sustained adoption of EO technology beyond a project's life cycle. Document actions to maintain or raise the institutional readiness level to ensure the project's desired impact is feasible. The narrative focuses on what would be required to move from project demonstration to routine production and use, with the Ministério da Agricultura, Ambiente e Pescas (MAAP, formerly the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, MADER) and the Regional Centre of Excellence in Agrifood Systems and Nutrition (CE-AFSN) at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM, formerly the Centro de Estudo de Políticas e Programas Agroalimentares, CEPPAG) as the main national counterparts and with due recognition of the role of the Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE). The readiness assessment highlights that Mozambique has strong potential for EO-enabled agricultural data, but that this potential is constrained by fragmented technical capacity, limited government resourcing for software and computing, a reliance on short-term projects and external consultants, and weak institutional arrangements for data ownership, openness, and inter-agency collaboration. It also identifies governance risks created by outdated foundational baselines that continue to shape policy and sampling design. The roadmap therefore centres on a staged transition. In the near term, priority lies in formalising mandates, custodianship, documentation, and integration pathways with existing survey and census processes. In the medium term, priority lies in building repeatable operational capability and reducing dependence on a small number of individuals. In the longer term, priority lies in embedding stewardship and financing, updating national baselines on a defined cycle, and using the donor-led Development Partners Group for Agriculture and Rural Development (AgRED) group as a coordination mechanism to align partner support and reduce duplication.

Keywords: capacity building; earth observation satellites; statistics; project evaluation; Mozambique; Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Eastern Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ppm
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fpr:resrep:181299

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