Three of the world's leading international agricultural research institutes have announced plans to combine their activities to boost rice production in Africa.
The institutes are the Cotonou-based African Rice Center ( WARDA), CIAT based in Colombia and the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
In a declaration on Tuesday in Abuja, they "affirmed their commitment to bring the best of science and experiences in Asia, Latin America and Africa to address the major challenges facing Africa's rice production''.
The centers are all supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The centers observed that with the unprecedented low world reserve levels, the international market price of rice might double their two-billion- dollar annual import bill in a few years.
The situation, they said, would result in more millions of dollars losses in foreign exchange to the rice consuming sub- Saharan African (SSA) countries.
With only 13 percent of the world's population, Africa accounts for 32 percent of world rice imports, making it a big player in the international rice trade.
In 2006, SSA imported more than nine million tons of rice estimated at 2 billion dollars and needed to import about 40 percent of rice to satisfy local demand.
Commenting on the centers' decision, WARDA Director-General Papa Seck said, "To me, this is the best way to reach a consensus on rice research in Africa."
"By harmonizing our activities, we can cover the whole continent, have critical mass, address most of the problems facing rice and at the end of the day, we can have a very high impact," said. Seck.
The centers have proposed to set up a sub-Saharan Africa Rice Consortium (SARC), which would consolidate the two existing regional rice networks.
The networks are the West and Central Africa Rice Research and Development Network (ROCARIZ) and the Eastern and Central Africa Rice Research Network (ECARRN).
They have also agreed that SARC will provide a platform for collective actions by the three CGIAR centers and collaborate with national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) among other proposals.
Source: Xinhua
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