Cotonou, Benin
March 18, 2009
Summing up the just-concluded
3-day meeting of the
Africa Rice Center (WARDA) Board of Trustees, the Board
Chair Mr Getachew Engida said, “We are impressed with the high
donor trust that the Center has gained as well as the
substantial increase in the African ownership of the Center.”
The Board congratulated the Director General Dr Papa Abdoulaye
Seck and all the staff of the Africa Rice Center for “the
tremendous growth, the large visibility and the doubling of
budget in such a short period.”
The Africa Rice Center (WARDA) is an intergovernmental
association of 22 African member States and one of the 15
international Centers supported by the
Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
The following achievements of the Center were particularly
highlighted:
- The 12-fold increase in
the average annual contribution from member States to the
Center, thanks to sustained advocacy by the Director
General. The member States now rank third among the Center’s
donors for unrestricted funding.
- The doubling of the
Center’s budget compared to 2007
- The increase in the number
of member States from 17 in 2006 to 22 in 2008; its
membership now covers all the regions of Africa.
- The clear and coherent
research agenda carried out in close partnership with the
national programs, the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), advanced
research institutes and universities and other key R&D
actors in the region
- The rapid progress made in
the implementation of the recommendations of its External
Program and Management Review (EPMR)
- The high visibility of the
Center in strategic international and national outlets (CNN,
BBC, CNBC, New Scientist, The Economist, Jeune Afrique…).
The Board was pleased to note that the Director General was
a panelist at the United Nations High Level Meeting on
Millennium Development Goals in New York in September 2008
where he advocated for sustained support to agriculture and
agricultural research for Africa to become food secure.
Encouraging the Center to keep up
this positive momentum the Board stressed on the need to
effectively manage the institutional growth and focus on the
risks, particularly those already identified by the Director
General in his presentation to the Board. “We are pleased that
risk management has now become an integral part of the Africa
Rice Center.”
The Board approved the Center’s 2008 externally audited
financial statements and its 2009 budget.
Speaking about the current CGIAR Change Management Process, the
Board stated that the Center was actively taking part in all the
discussions on the new CGIAR and the proposed mega programs. “We
are also taking care to ensure that the unique model of the
Africa Rice Center as a pan-African intergovernmental
institution is taken into consideration as it is a significant
asset for the CGIAR.”
The Board extended a warm welcome to Dr Henri Carsalade from
France as new Board member. Dr Carsalade, who is a well-known
research leader, is no stranger to the Africa Rice Center,
having been earlier its Board Chair.
The Board took the opportunity to send a congratulatory letter
to Dr Kanayo F. Nwanze, former Director General of the Africa
Rice Center on his appointment as the President of the
International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) from 1 April 2009 for a
4-year term. |
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