African Development Bank delegation visits AfricaRice
to discuss implementation of Strategic Crops initiative
A high-level
delegation from the African Development Bank (AfDB) visited AfricaRice on 26
April to discuss on the progress made in the implementation of the “Support to
Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa (SARD-SC)”
initiative.
Launched in
2012, SARD-SC is a 5-year, multi-CGIAR center initiative funded by AfDB. It seeks
to enhance the productivity and income derived from cassava, maize, rice, and
wheat – four of the six commodities that African Heads of States, through the
Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program, have defined as
strategic crops for Africa. Its overall objective is to enhance food and
nutrition security and contribute to poverty reduction in the AfDB’s low income
Regional Member Countries (RMCs).
The initiative
is being implemented by three Africa-based CGIAR centers – AfricaRice for the
rice value chain component; the International Center for Agricultural Research
in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) for the wheat value chain component; and the International
Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) for the cassava and maize value chain
components. IITA is also the executing agency for the initiative. The
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is responsible for
capacity building for farmers’ organizations across the four value chains.
The rice
component of the SARD-SC initiative aims to contribute to poverty reduction and
enhanced food security through value chain development across Africa. Ten
countries are included in the initiative: Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia,
Ghana, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda. New
technologies and innovations will be developed through Taskforces. These
comprise NARS collaborators from participating countries and focus on one of
five main intervention areas: breeding, agronomy, gender, processing/value
addition and policy. Through the Taskforces, new technologies and innovations
will be introduced as good agricultural practice (GAP) baskets in Rice Sector
Development Hubs.
Dr Jonas Chianu, Principal Agricultural Economist,
African Development Bank (AfDB),
African Development Bank (AfDB),
speaks during his recent visit to AfricaRice
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