Africa Rice Center

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Africa Rice Center
Abbreviation AfricaRice
Formation 1971
Type Non-profit research and training center
Purpose/focus Research
Headquarters Bouaké, Vallée du Bandama Region
Location Cote d'Ivoire
Region served Africa
Official languages English / French
Director General Dr. Adama Traoré
Main organ Board of Trustees
Affiliations CGIAR
Staff 500
Website www.africarice.org

The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), formerly known as the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA), is an African organization currently headquartered in Cotonou, Benin.[1] AfricaRice is an agricultural research center that was constituted in 1971 by 11 West African countries. Presently the center counts 24 African member states.[2] Since 1986, AfricaRice has been one of the 15 specialized research centers of the CGIAR.

Its normal headquarters are in Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire, but because of the political situation in that country, it is currently operating from the premises of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture's station in Cotonou.[2] The center runs regional research stations in Saint-Louis, Senegal, in Ibadan, Nigeria and in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

AfricaRice aims to contribute to poverty alleviation and food security in Africa through research for development. The center has therefore close links to agricultural research organizations in the African member states, to agricultural universities and research institutes in Europe, Japan and the United States, and to the development sector, which include Non Governmental Organizations, farmers organizations and donors. AfricaRice, being part of the CGIAR system, shares resources with several of the other CGIAR organizations, including the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Philippines, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria. In the course of reforms at the CGIAR, AfricaRice developed together with IRRI and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP), which sets a global strategic research agenda for rice.[3]

One of the major tasks of AfricaRice is the development and introduction of new rice seed varieties that are suitable for African conditions. NERICA, which stands for "New Rice for Africa", is two families of interspecific cultivars of African (Oryza glaberrima) and Asian (Oryza sativa) rice species, that was developed to improve the yields of African farmers. For his work on NERICA, Dr. Monty Jones from Sierra Leone was awarded the World Food Prize in 2004[4] becoming the first African national to win this award.

See also

  • African rice

References

  1. ↑ "Africa: Emergency Rice Initiative Launched to Help Countries Severely Hit By Soaring Prices". AllAfrica.com. 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2008-06-30. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "About Us". African Rice Center Official Site. Retrieved 2011-02-28. 
  3. ↑ Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP) GRiSP website
  4. ↑ "Monty Jones awarded WFP 2004". World Food Prize official site. Retrieved 2011-03-07. 

External links

Coordinates: 6°25′15″N 2°19′35″E / 6.42083°N 2.32639°E / 6.42083; 2.32639


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