Cotonou, Benin
March 28, 2007
At its just-concluded meeting, the
Africa Rice Center (WARDA)
Board of Trustees strongly endorsed the process of harmonization
of specific activities of the Center with those of the
Centro Internacional de
Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), the
International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the
International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI).
WARDA is joining forces with IRRI and CIAT as part of a new wave
of partnership aimed to create a strong synergy for rice
research in Africa.
To improve resource efficiency, WARDA and IITA-Cotonou are
adopting common corporate services for the activities at the
IITA research station in Benin, where WARDA’s temporary
headquarters is based.
WARDA, IRRI, CIAT and IITA are Centers supported by the
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR).
The WARDA Board endorsed these bold new directions in
inter-Center alliance, based on mutual respect, while
reasserting WARDA’s integrity and special status as an
inter-governmental association of African member states.
“I am happy to state that the new vision presented to the Board
by the WARDA Director General Dr Papa Abdoulaye Seck emphasizes
these strategic alliances because he believes strongly that it
would be impossible for any single organization to implement an
effective research agenda in Africa,” said WARDA Board Chair Mr
Gaston Grenier.
Mr Grenier described this Board meeting as “very special”,
because for the first time, on WARDA’s invitation, IRRI
representatives—Board Chair Dr Keijiro Otsuka and two Board
members, Dr Ronald L. Phillips and Prof. Ruth K. Oniang’o—took
part in this meeting as observers.
“This testifies to IRRI’s firm commitment to work closely with
WARDA,” remarked Dr Otsuka, who is a strong advocate for
IRRI-WARDA partnership for Africa.
Taking into account the comparative advantages of WARDA and
IRRI, five thematic areas have been identified for joint
research on rice: genomics, seed, policy, post-harvest, and
commodity chain.
Senior scientists from both Centers have already started
attending each other’s research planning meetings and joint
proposals have been submitted to donors. “The IRRI-WARDA
partnership is advancing well,” said WARDA Board Chair Mr Gaston
Grenier.
Mr Grenier also expressed the Board’s satisfaction in the steps
taken to set up common corporate services for WARDA and IITA at
the Cotonou research station. “We are grateful to the CGIAR for
its support to this exercise, which is expected to be over by
September 2007.” He appreciated that WARDA scientists were
benefiting from sharing IITA’s biocontrol research facilities in
Cotonou.
The Board warmly welcomed the two new Board members who are
common to IITA and WARDA: Dr Barbara Becker from Germany and Dr
Adama Traoré from Mali.
The other new WARDA Board members—Dr Tsekede Abate from
Ethiopia, Dr Getachew Engida from UK and Dr Kiyoaki Maruyama
from Japan—also received a special welcome from WARDA.
The Board meeting was made even more significant by the presence
of two representatives of the WARDA External Program and
Management Review (EPMR) Panel: Prof. Eric Tollens, Panel Chair
and Dr Pammi Sachdeva, Panel member for Governance. WARDA is
going through its fifth EPMR this year.
The other highlights of the meeting include some important
announcements, notably:
- Launching of a post-MSc
internship program: The Board applauded Dr Seck’s new
initiative to launch a 2-year internship program for African
MSc students to work at WARDA. This would not only increase
the critical mass of scientists at WARDA, but would also
develop the scientific capacity of African countries.
- High-level advocacy:
WARDA is developing a strategy in association with partners
to influence African policy-makers to make greater
investments in agriculture and agricultural research.
- Endorsement of the WCA
MTP: The Board praised the progress made in the West &
Central Africa Regional Plan for Collective Action and
suggested ways to advance the process.
- Streamlining of the
WARDA research structure: The WARDA research structure
has been simplified and thematic groups established to
further increase the Center’s research efficiency and
quality.
- Status of facilities at
WARDA’s headquarters in Côte d’Ivoire: The facilities,
including the genebank, are intact and well-maintained. The
experimental fields are being used for large-scale NERICA
seed multiplication for distribution to national programs.
At the end of the meeting, the
Board thanked the outgoing Board members, Mrs Mary U. B.
Mokwunye from Nigeria and Prof. Takeshi Horie from Japan for
their valuable contribution to the Center.
The Board took the opportunity to congratulate WARDA for winning
recently the prestigious United Nations Award for South-South
Triangular Partnership. Individual WARDA staff members and
post-doctoral fellows who had been singled out for their
achievements were also felicitated. |
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