GRiSP aims to mobilize the very best of the world’s
rice science and involve the widest possible range of stakeholders in the
technology generation and dissemination process to address, among others,
Africa’s major rice-development challenges.
The GRiSP-Africa Science Forum, held at
AfricaRice’s temporary headquarters in Cotonou, from 12 to 16 September, was
attended by over 100 international and national rice experts, including
representatives of all the key partners. Participants reviewed the progress
made by GRiSP in Africa in 2011, particularly on the development of new
research products — ranging from gene discovery[1] to
the mini-combine[2]
and policy briefs for decision-makers — grouped under the six GRiSP themes:
- Harnessing genetic diversity to chart new productivity, quality and health horizons
- Accelerating the development, delivery and adoption of improved rice varieties
- Increasing the productivity, sustainability and resilience of rice-based production systems
- Extracting more value through improved quality, processing, market systems and new products
- Technology evaluations, targeting and policy options for enhanced impact
- Supporting the growth of the global rice sector.
Laying emphasis on the need for pooling
intelligence to better exploit the comparative advantages of all the partners
to more efficiently address the constraints to rice production, AfricaRice
Director General Dr Seck spelled out 10 conditions that are essential for GRiSP
to become a successful program and ensure a high degree of satisfaction among
rice farmers and consumers throughout the world.
The conditions include the need to respect the
diversity of partnerships, regional differences and institutional identities in
GRiSP, while rejecting ‘hegemonic thinking’. The conditions also include the
need for equitable resource allocation based on the real requirements of the
various regions; the urgent need to strengthen the capacity of African
stakeholders; the significant role of the national partners within GRiSP; the
importance of continuous dialog with policy-makers; and the need to avoid
bureaucracy, including excessive evaluation with scientists spending more time
writing reports than doing research.
AfricaRice Deputy Director General (DDG) and
Director of Research for Development, Marco Wopereis highlighted the major
shift in focus from supply-driven research, where the emphasis is mainly on
increasing rice production, to more demand- or market-driven research, where
the attention is given to the entire rice value chain.
Achim Dobermann, IRRI Deputy Director General
for Research and GRiSP Program Director, took an active part in the GRiSP-Africa
Science Forum, expressing his satisfaction with the progress made by the
Africa-based team in 2011, particularly with regard to the new way of doing
research.
In his capacity as outgoing chairman of the
AfricaRice National Experts Committee, Babou Jobe (Director General of the
National Agriculture Research Institute, Gambia) confirmed “100% support” to
GRiSP, particularly its major thrust on strengthening national capacity. He was
pleased to learn that one-third of the Global Rice Science Scholarships had
gone to African students in 2011.
[1] See ‘The
genes that could beat the “AIDS of rice”’ in the GRiSP Annual Report 2011.
[2] See
‘Research in brief: Promoting small-scale mechanization across the continent as
the essential ingredient for rice intensification’ in this report and ‘A
mini-combine for sub-Saharan Africa’ in the GRiSP
Annual Report 2011.
