The
2010 Steering Committee Meeting of the African Rice Initiative (ARI), held in
Cotonou, Benin, 19-21 Apr 2010, reviewed the progress made by the $35 million,
five-year AfDB-funded NERICA dissemination project and planned the next steps.
The
AfDB project supports the dissemination of NERICA and other improved rice
varieties in seven West African countries – Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Mali,
Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
The
AfDB project is coordinated by the African Rice Initiative (ARI), which is
hosted by AfricaRice. ARI has been supported by several partners and donors,
including AfDB, Rockefeller Foundation, JICA and UNDP. Two JICA rice
specialists who are working with the Initiative have been particularly involved
in group training programs on important aspects of rice cultivation – ranging
from quality seed production to agronomic packages.
The
Steering Committee highlighted the progress made in the pilot countries as many
promising new varieties – including new NERICA varieties – have been selected
by farmers using farmer-participatory approaches. Thanks to these, rice farmers
are able to make enough profit from their farms to send their children to
school and provide them with better health care.
Since
seed shortage is the biggest bottleneck in rice development in the region, the
project has mounted a major effort on the production and diffusion of quality
seed. Efforts are being made to put in place sustainable quality seed
production and delivery strategies.
To
increase the productivity of improved rice varieties, complementary
technologies, such as agronomic packages, are currently evaluated in all pilot
countries in collaboration with AfricaRice scientists and other resource
persons. The Regional Coordination Unit has contributed to the dissemination of
relevant information through the publication, NERICA Compendium, which was
published jointly with FAO and Sasakawa Africa Association.
In
view of the tangible impact made in the pilot countries and the keen interest
of other sub-Saharan African countries to be included in the AfDB rice project,
the ARI Steering Committee meeting focused on the strategy and the development
of the next phase. The project was launched in 2005 but began its operations
only from 2006.
