The 2009 Steering Committee/Experts meeting of
the African Rice Initiative (ARI) of the Africa Rice Center was held in
Cotonou, Benin, 4-6 May.
More than 35 participants attended, including
four representatives from the African Development Bank (AfDB) as well as
representatives from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), the AfDB-funded NERICA® project countries, the three Common Fund for
Commodities (CFC)-funded rice project countries, four observer countries
(Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon and Senegal), and Sasakawa Global 2000 (SG
2000).
The Director General of the national program
from Gabon, Dr Obame Ondo, was specially invited to attend as observer. Gabon
is keen to join the Africa Rice Center.
The Steering Committee reviewed the progress
made in AfDB-funded project countries (Benin, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali,
Nigeria and Sierra Leone) and in the CFC-funded project countries (Cameroon,
Chad and Central African Republic).
The areas covered included the availability of
good quality seeds of upland NERICA® varieties, introduction of lowland NERICA®
rice and other improved varieties, seed system development, capacity
building, development of integrated rice management options, varietal
maintenance, participatory varietal selection (PVS), post-harvest processing
and commercialization.
The Steering Committee meeting this year was
particularly noteworthy because of the participation of Mr Bakary Togola from
Mali, President of the farmers’ association APCAM, who has achieved remarkable
success in rice farming.
