The Access and Benefit-Sharing Compliant Biotrade in South(ern) Africa (ABioSA) project has received a one-year extension to December 2025; this was announced by the project funder, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The extension allows the project an opportunity to conduct a session internally titled ‘Quo Vadis’ - an in-depth and objective assessment of the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of the project at a specific point and time.
It provides a platform for comprehensive engagements with key partners and collaborators for coordinated ideation, reflections on activities and successes, and planning for a way forward towards the proposed ABioSA phase III. The results will provide the project team an opportunity to assess which activities to continue with, what requires adaptation, what new ideas are needed – and which activities need to be finalised.
The ABioSA Quo Vadis will:
- Identify, strengthen and formalise the synergies with other SECO & GIZ sister projects
- Highlight the linkages to the relevant Global Biodiversity Framework’s (GBF) elements
- Strengthen the linkage to the revised National Biodiversity Economy Strategy (NBES)
- Investigate additional meso-level multi-stakeholder partnership opportunities with provincial representatives, customers of the biotrade, academia and others
- Seek to strengthen micro-level financial and technical support initiatives provided to SMMEs
- Investigate a 3-tier approach towards ABS
- Further develop and strengthen platforms and activities for continued dialogue
In phase I, ABioSA worked with 13 biotrade value chains and plant species, selected according to criteria including Traditional and Indigenous Knowledge, ecological sustainability, market demand, potential for value-adding and job creation, and opportunities for participation of small businesses and local communities. The ABioSA project summary and highlights report provides an understanding of the outcomes of phase I.
ABioSA phase II is focused on the implementation of Sector Development Plans for five plant species and value chains, some of which straddle national borders. The species were selected in collaboration with project partners, including the DFFE.
The Quo Vadis Approach
During the most recent ABioSA Project Steering Committee meeting, a visual representation of our toolbox and approach towards supporting the biotrade sector was shared with stakeholders; it was developed as a visual storyboard.

The ABioSA toolbox of approaches have been influenced, informed and shaped over 2 project phases. Nothing is necessarily unique about any of these approaches, but we believe it is the conscious intention of bringing these approaches together that makes ABioSA what it is.
In the ABioSA toolbox we apply the approaches outlined below.
We use the Systemic Competitiveness Framework. This concentrates on four social and economic levels and how they interrelate. ABioSA is not only striving for direct impact, but it operates to contribute to systemic change. Systemic change often has a greater impact than direct assistance; even people or SMMEs with no immediate contact with the project will benefit. We do not only focus on inputs, outputs and direct impact – although these are important. We are also interested in the dynamic interactions among the stakeholders across these 4 levels as investments in outputs of activities. These are key to translating the inputs into outputs; and moreover, they offer key insights into the lived experience of both value chain actors and value chain supporters. We learn about how information flows, how problems are solved, how knowledge is generated, and how on-going learning occurs within a sector. And we learn how to adapt our support in return.
The meta level is designed to specifically address this interaction, information and knowledge flows, communication, dialogue and accessibility. Interaction between stakeholders at the different levels often is affected by issues such as trust, social and informal networks, formal relationships, common customers or common inputs and other factors. We are alive to these realities, and we are learning.
ABioSA, in collaboration with other partners, aim to bring together the different stakeholders within this framework. These include industry (both SMMEs and Associations), government, academia and civil society, working to create synergies between the different parties and to support the creation of an enabling environment for the biotrade natural products sector. Our ultimate mission is to yield increased market access, economic growth and job creation and community inclusion within the sector. Together, we dare to create a space within the project to test new approaches, pilots and experiments.
Two of the most important service providers which ABioSA appoints at the beginning of a new phase is:
- A Monitoring and Evaluation service provider tasked with evaluating the overall project phase, as well as key initiatives such as the SMME support and sector-wide support - to be discussed later (Baseline, midterm & close-out evaluations). This supports the drive to identify verifiable data regarding the sector.
- We appoint a Marketing, Communications and PR service provider to support the development and design of knowledge products, events, project awareness and identity.
Outlook: 2025 Quo Vadis?

Where are we now?
What have we learnt?
Which way to go?
We would like to invite you to the various ABioSA Quo Vadis sessions with partners and stakeholders, where we invite you to share your wisdom and experiences; and ask for your inputs on how to further co-create a path for ABioSA phase III from 2026-2028.