The Southern Africa AFRENA embraces four SADC countries, namely Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe which are characterised by the miombo vegetation and a unimodal rainfall regime. The research programme has focused on technology development to address small holder farmer problems of declining soil fertility, shortage of fodder and fuel wood, environment degradation through deforestation, overgrazing and soil erosion. After nearly a decade of research and capacity building, the network has developed several promising technologies, e.g sesbania improved fallows, sesbania/maizc relay cropping, maize/gliricidia intercropping, fodder banks, rotational wood lots for poles and fuel wood and indigenous fruits for human nutrition. Significant maize yield increases have been obtained following 2- to-3-year sesbania fallows or in relay cropping and gliricidia/maize intercropping systems. These technologies have advanced to farmers fields and currently the network has over 1000 experimenting farmers, most of whom are testing the sesbania improved fallows. Farmer enthusiasm and expections from these technologies are high throughout the network. In addition, several MPTs have proven themselves in terms of biomass production for fodder and positive effect on liveweight gains in goats. Further, the network has evaluated over 20 species of indigenous fruits, several of them have easily been propagated and have given fruits within 18–24 months of transplanting. Priority indigenous fruits in the region areUapaca kirkiana. andSclerocarrya birrea.Uapaka has been collected from five southern African countries for evaluation and improvement before distribution of planting materials to farmers. Future thrusts will focus mainly on extension and refining of the best teclinologies as well as research on strategic issues, such as nutrient dynamics in the systems being developed and implication on the sustainability of the systems under farm management.