January 27, 2021
During its 24th Annual Meeting held online on 20 November 2020, the Council for Partnerships on Rice Research in Asia (CORRA) reaffirmed its support for IRRI and its commitment to the global rice sector through research, innovation, and collaboration.
Together with IRRI Director General Matthew Morell, 17 representatives from 15 CORRA member countries issued a declaration by acclamation recognizing their major roles in and the significant contribution of IRRI and One CGIAR to food and nutrition security, farmer competitiveness, environmental sustainability, and climate change resilience.
CORRA members presented country report updates on rice-based agriculture
research initiatives and the latest developments in genetic modification and gene editing technologies for rice and other crops were discussed. In addition, the meeting featured a status report on the One CGIAR governance reforms and IRRI’s partnership with AfricaRice.
In his message to the participants, Dr. Morell commended CORRA’s strong commitment to come together and share knowledge in the field of agricultural research, especially in light of challenges to food and nutrition security such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
Over the last 60 years, IRRI has worked with CORRA member countries on successful initiatives to enhance food and nutrition security in rice-based economies. Most of these initiatives were achieved through local research and extension capacity, for which IRRI has provided long-term support and training.
Philippine Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar sent a recorded message recognizing CORRA as a strong regional community formed by Southeast and South
Asia member countries. With the OneCGIAR reform, Sec. Dar reiterated the need for IRRI to continue giving priority to Asian countries on research for development for rice-based agri-food systems.
CORRA members reiterated their support not only for the Council, but also for the continued implementation and resource mobilization for co-developed sub-regional programs with IRRI on “ASEAN RiceNet” and the “IRRI Resilient Rice Agri-Food Systems Initiative for South Asia.”
The Council agreed to endorse the 2020 CORRA Declaration to the One CGIAR System Council and Executive Management Team and to request the use of the CORRA platform as a means to engage with the CGIAR in designing regional One CGIAR programs in Asia.
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