Objective 3 of the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation-funded project ‘Diffusion and Impact of Improved Varieties in Africa’
was launched, on 14–15 June, in Cotonou. Objective 3 focuses on the assessment
of the diffusion and adoption of improved pearl millet, rice and sorghum
varieties and their impact on poverty, food security and selected factor
productivity (land, labor and fertilizer) in Mali, Nigeria and Tanzania.
AfricaRice is responsible for rice in Nigeria, IRRI is
responsible for rice in Tanzania, and International Crops Research Institute
for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is responsible for pearl millet and sorghum
in in Nigeria. The Department of Economics of the School of Oriental and
African Studies (University of London, UL-SOAS) focuses on analyses and
syntheses across commodities and countries.