Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the Africa Rice Center (WARDA)?
For whom does it work?
What is its mission?
Why an international Center for rice in Africa?
When was it created?
Where does it work?
What is its mode of operation?
What is its strategic goal?
What is its research agenda?
What are the achievements of its partnership-based R&D activities?
How is it funded?

1. What is the Africa Rice Center (WARDA)?

A Center of Excellence and the leader in rice research and development (R&D) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It also serves as a hub for rice R&D network across the sub-continent.

The Africa Rice Center is an autonomous intergovernmental research association of African member states. It is also one of the 15 Future Harvest Centers, supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

The Africa Rice Center hosts the African Rice Initiative (ARI), the West and Central Africa Rice Research and Development Network (ROCARIZ) and the Inland Valley Consortium (IVC). It also supports the Coordination Unit of the Eastern and Central African Rice Research Network (ECARRN), based in Tanzania.

2. For whom does it work?

For the benefit of African rice farmers, mostly small-scale producers, as well as the millions of African families for whom rice means food.

3. What is its mission?

To contribute to poverty alleviation and food security in Africa, through research, development and partnership activities aimed at increasing the productivity and profitability of the rice sector in ways that ensure the sustainability of the farming environment.

4. Why an international Center for rice in Africa?

Rice is an integral part of Africa, where it has been grown for more than 3000 years. Today, it is the most rapidly growing food source in Africa. It is grown and consumed in about 40 countries in the continent.

The demand for rice in West and Central Africa (WCA)—SSA’s rice belt—is growing at the rate of about 6% per year, which is faster than anywhere else in the world. Since the 1960s, rice imports in the sub-region have increased eight-fold to 4 million t per year, at an annual cost of more than US$1 billion.

Rice is generally grown under subsistence conditions by smallholder farmers, many of whom are women, who lack the means to irrigate and apply chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Many of the Asian rice varieties grown by them are highly susceptible to insect pests, diseases, weeds and toxic soils.

5. When was it created?

It was created by Constitution in 1970 by 11 West African countries with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). It currently comprises 17 adhering member states: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

It was constituted as the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA)—a name that it carried until 2003 when it was designated by the WARDA Council of Ministers as the Africa Rice Center in recognition of its increasing and leading role in rice R&D in SSA.

6. Where does it work?

The Center’s headquarters is based in M’bé, near Bouaké, in Côte d’Ivoire. Since January 2005, it has been working out of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)-Benin station in Cotonou, having relocated from its headquarters, because of the Ivoirian crisis. It has regional research stations near St Louis, Senegal and at IITA in Ibadan, Nigeria.

The networks and consortia convened by the Center, including the Eastern and Central African Rice Research Network (ECARRN), help maintain its continent-wide activities.

7. What is its mode of operation?

Partnership at all levels. WARDA’s research and development activities are conducted in collaboration with various stakeholders—primarily the national agricultural research systems (NARS) in SSA, academic institutions, advanced research institutions, farmers’ organizations, non-governmental organizations and donors.

8. What is its strategic goal?

Significantly increase the quality, usefulness and availability of knowledge and technology within the rice sector to support and improve the well-being of the poor in Africa.

9. What is its research agenda?

In line with its new Strategic Plan (2003-2012), the Center launched in 2004 a new programmatic structure—approved by the Board and endorsed by its partners—that enhances the relevance and impact of its research products and services in SSA.

The new structure positions the Center to address the emerging challenges in SSA and ensure that the quality of its science continues to meet the highest international standards.

Core research areas: The Center’s core research areas focus on the two major challenges highlighted in its 2003-2012 Strategic Plan: 1. Integrated rice production systems; 2. Rice policy and development.

1. Integrated rice production systems

Activities under this program seek to:

Improve resource use efficiency for more productive, profitable, and socio-economically viable rice production systems in SSA
Develop stress-tolerant rice varieties and agronomic practices that best fit or better optimize existing production systems in SSA and are acceptable to both producers and consumers

2. Rice policy and development

The thrusts of this program are to:

Build strategies for competitive rice sector development in SSA through a better understanding of rice policy and market dynamics and a systematic assessment of impacts of technical and institutional changes within the rice sector
Enhance the institutional capacity of national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) by extending its highly successful network model to other rice-producing areas of Africa
Mitigate the effects of environmental disasters and pandemic diseases on rice-based livelihoods by providing information, technology, and support

These two programs function through 8 well-focused projects with specific outputs and milestones within the Medium-Term Plan (MTP).

As part of its new research agenda, the Center reaches out beyond its traditional partners to ensure that its knowledge and technologies are relevant and accessible to a broader range of actors interested in rice development in Africa: ranging from international development banks and bilateral agencies, through government and research institutions to local NGOs and the private sector.

10. What are the achievements of its partnership-based R&D activities?

New Rice for Africa (NERICA) technology refers to the successful crossing by researchers from the Africa Rice Center of the two species of cultivated rice to produce plants (known as interspecifics) that combine the best traits of both parents: high yields from the Asian parent and the ability to thrive in harsh environments from the African parent—a feat not successfully achieved before in the history of rice breeding. Through the crossing of the two rice species, the NERICA technology gives researchers access to new genetic combinations. The NERICA name was trademarked in 2004.

Upland NERICA varieties: Product of the NERICA technology, adapted to the harsh growing environment and low-input conditions of upland (rainfed) rice ecologies in SSA, where smallholder farmers lack the means to irrigate and apply chemical fertilizers or pesticides. The upland NERICA responds even better to higher inputs. Dr Monty Jones, former WARDA researcher, was selected as the co-laureate of the 2004 World Food Prize for developing the upland NERICA varieties. Upland NERICAs are planted on more than 100,000 ha across Africa, including about 60,000 ha in Guinea and more than 10,000 ha in Uganda.

Lowland NERICA varieties: Another scientific breakthrough based on the NERICA technology. The lowland NERICA varieties with yield potential of 6-7 t per ha and good resistance to major lowland stresses have been developed for the African lowlands, one of the most complex rice ecologies in the world. Given the high potential of the lowlands in Africa, the lowland NERICA is expected to make an even bigger impact than the upland NERICA. Four lowland NERICA varieties have been released in Burkina Faso and two in Mali.

High-yielding varieties for the Sahel: More than 70% of the rice-growing area in the Senegal River Valley and Mauritania covered by the high-yielding varieties Sahel 108, 201, and 202. These lines have also been released in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria.

About 200 improved rice varieties released over the past 25 years in West Africa thanks to the catalytic effect of the International Network for the Genetic Evaluation of Rice (INGER-Africa), based at the Center. Producer surplus gain from improved varieties: about US$360 million in 1998 alone.

Integrated crop management (ICM) strategy: A suite of improved technologies and decision-making tools for irrigated rice farmers. Adoption of the ICM strategy enhances the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of irrigated rice farming and results in substantial increase in yields (by 60%) and profits (by 85%).

ASI thresher: The most widely used rice thresher in Senegal; increasingly popular in the sub-region. In 2003 the Center received the Senegalese President’s Award for Science and Technology for ASI development and dissemination.

Rice policy solutions that cut hunger in SSA: Comprehensive policy strategy developed to revive the rice sector in Nigeria.

Regional database: The West Africa Inland Valley Information System (WAIVIS) developed by the Inland Valley Consortium (IVC), convened by the Center.

ROCARIZ rice network: Unique network model enhancing national capacity in rice R&D—based at the Center.

Hub for capacity building in rice R&D in SSA: More than 100 University students, including about 80 doctoral students trained over the last 10 years.

11. How is it funded?

The Center receives funding from a wide variety of sources and is part of the CGIAR, which is supported by more than 60 developed and developing countries and bilateral and multilateral aid agencies. Current and past donors to WARDA include:

• African Development Bank (AfDB)
• Belgium
• Canada
• CGIAR Finance Committee
• Common Fund for Commodities (CFC)
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Denmark
• ENI (Congo)
• European Union (EU)
• FAO
• France
• Gatsby Foundation
• Germany
• International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
• Italy
• Japan
• Korea
• The Netherlands
• Norway
• Rockefeller Foundation
• Spain
• Sweden
• Taiwan
• United Kingdom (UK)
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
• United States of America (USA)
• World Bank
• WARDA Member States