The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), formerly known as the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA), is a pan-African intergovernmental association and a CGIAR Research organization, currently headquartered in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. AfricaRice is an

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

research center that was constituted in 1971 by 11 West African countries. Presently the Center counts 26 African member states. Since 1986, AfricaRice has been one of the 15 specialized research centers of

CGIAR CGIAR (formerly the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security. CGIAR research aims to reduce rural poverty, increase food ...

. The center runs regional research stations in Saint-Louis,

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

, in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

and country offices in Cotonou, Benin and in Antananarivo, Madagascar. AfricaRice aims to contribute to poverty alleviation and

food security Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World ...

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 A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

, 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 The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international agricultural research and training organization with its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, in the Philippines, and offices in seventeen countries. IRRI is known for its wor ...

(IRRI) in Los Baños, Philippines, and the

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a nonprofit organization that works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture, with the ultimate ...

. In the course of reforms at the CGIAR, AfricaRice developed together with IRRI and

International Center for Tropical Agriculture The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (known as CIAT from its Spanish-language name ''Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical)'' is an international research and development organization dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger ...

(CIAT) the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP), which sets a global strategic research agenda for rice.Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP)
GRiSP website 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 New Rice for Africa ("NERICA") is a cultivar group of interspecific hybrid rice developed by the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) to improve the yield of African rice cultivars. Although 240 million people in West Africa rely on rice as the p ...

", is two families of

interspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organi ...

cultivars of African (''

Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown in West Africa around 3,000 years ago. In agriculture, it has largely been replaced by higher-yielding Asian ...

'') and Asian (''

Oryza sativa ''Oryza sativa'', commonly known as Asian rice or indica rice, is the plant species most commonly referred to in English as ''rice''. It is the type of farmed rice whose cultivars are most common globally, and was first domesticated in the Yan ...

'') 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 The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world. Conceived by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nor ...

in 2004 becoming the first African to win this award.

Gallery

File:Rice cultivation in Benin - panoramio - Africa Rice Center (3).jpg, Africa Rice Center staff in Benin, 2011

References

External links

Official site
International research institutes Research institutes in Ivory Coast Rice research institutes {{agriculture-org-stub

Gallery

See also

References

External links