Cotonou, Benin
October 3, 2007
The just-concluded 26th session of
the Council of Ministers of the
Africa Rice Center (WARDA), held in Abuja under the
chairmanship of Dr Abba Sayyadi Ruma, Minister of Agriculture
and Water Resources, Federal Republic of Nigeria, signaled a
historic change for rice research in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Council formally approved the expansion of the geographic
mandate of WARDA, which is primarily based in West Africa, and
admitted four Eastern and Central African countries as members.
The new WARDA member States are the Central African Republic,
the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and
Uganda. With the addition of these countries, the number of
WARDA member States has gone up from 17 to 21.
“This is the first time since 1987 that new members have joined
WARDA,” stated WARDA Director General Dr Papa Abdoulaye Seck.
“But what is more important is that the new member States are
from Eastern and Central Africa – regions that, unlike West
Africa, were not traditionally known for rice cultivation.”
“With the success of WARDA’s technologies, particularly the New
Rice for Africa (NERICA), Central and Eastern African countries
are seeing for themselves the benefits of investing in rice
research and are therefore keen to join WARDA,” Dr Seck said.
WARDA is an intergovernmental rice research and development
association of African member States, with a Council of
Ministers and a National Experts Committee.
WARDA is also one of the 15 international Centers supported by
the Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
WARDA’s unique dual status was highlighted by His Excellency
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, in his opening address at the 26th session of the WARDA
Council of Ministers. He was represented by the Vice President,
Dr Jonathan Goodluck, who delivered the President’s message.
“WARDA is the only CGIAR Center that is owned by African member
States. That is one of the main reasons why the technologies
developed by WARDA and its partners are so relevant to African
conditions,” the President said.
The President mentioned that in addition to the NERICA
varieties, a major contribution from WARDA to Nigeria was in the
area of rice policy research, which played a central role in the
development of the Presidential Rice Initiative.
“I am happy to announce that, as a member State that has
benefited so much from WARDA’s research, Nigeria has fulfilled
its financial obligations to WARDA to date,” the President said,
underlining that the need to invest in rice research and
development for Africa was even more urgent than ever before.
The Council of Ministers congratulated the WARDA Director
General Dr Seck for his active efforts in this area. “Thanks to
Dr Seck’s strong advocacy for rice research and development,
tangible improvements in contributions from member States have
been made.”
“In fact, the contribution received from member States in 2007
is equivalent to that of the last 10 years,” the Council
affirmed, commending those countries that had paid their
contributions and urging others to do so.
The Council strongly backed a new pan-African Rice Initiative
that will be launched in 2008 by the Benin President Dr Yayi
Boni with WARDA, as part of advocacy efforts to support Africa’s
rice sector.
The Council also fully endorsed the new vision and strategy of
Dr Seck for the emergence of a more competitive, diversified and
sustainable Center. It praised particularly the Post-MSc
internship program for young educated Africans launched by him
to create the next generation of rice researchers in sub-Saharan
Africa.
As part of its key resolutions, the Council applauded the recent
declaration on the alignment of research activities of three
international Centers supported by the CGIAR – WARDA, the Centro
Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) and the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) – to boost rice
production in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Council took note of the development of the reform process
within the CGIAR and supported all efforts aimed at
strengthening WARDA as a Center of Excellence for rice research
and development in Africa.
Recognizing the value of information for rice research and
development, the Council appreciated CTA’s support to WARDA in
this area and encouraged both institutes to reinforce their
collaboration.
The Council also urged WARDA to strengthen links with
sub-regional and regional bodies (ECOWAS/CEDEAO, CEMAC, UEMOA,
CEAC…) in order to benefit from their support and reiterated its
commitment to take necessary steps so that WARDA, while
remaining an international Center supported by the CGIAR, could
be recognized as a Center of Excellence of the African Union.
As the shortage of seed of improved varieties continues to be a
major constraint to rice production in sub-Saharan Africa, the
Council encouraged WARDA to be involved in the production of
breeder’s and foundation seeds in association with national
programs and urged it to help in the development and
harmonization of seed legislation at the regional level.
One of the highlights of this session was the presence of
invitees from the Network of Farmers’ and Agricultural
Producers’ Organizations of West Africa (ROPPA). The Council
resolved to invite farmers’ associations as observers to the
WARDA National Experts Committee meetings on a regular basis.
Before concluding its historic session, the Council thanked the
Government of Benin for hosting the temporary headquarters of
WARDA. It reiterated that Côte d’Ivoire remains WARDA’s
permanent headquarters and that WARDA’s return will be assessed
in due course by competent and relevant bodies. It encouraged
the Ivoirian Government to continue to protect the personnel and
the facilities in M’bé.
Conveying its sincere thanks to the President and the Government
of Nigeria for their warm hospitality and the excellent
organization of the session, the Council approved Togo’s
assumption of the Council Chairmanship for the next two years.
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