Africa Rice Center: Difference between revisions
Reverted good faith edits by AfricaRice; Rv removal of content and refs. (TW) |
AfricaRice (talk | contribs) The complete content has to be changed as per the africarice website. Tag: possible conflict of interest |
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The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) is a leading pan-African research organization with a mission to contribute to poverty alleviation and food security in Africa through research, development and partnership activities. It is one of the 15 international agricultural research Centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It is also an autonomous intergovernmental research association of African member countries. |
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The '''Africa Rice Center''' , formerly known as the '''West Africa Rice Development Association''' (WARDA) is an [[Africa]]n organization located in [[Cotonou]], [[Benin]].<ref>{{cite web |
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| title = Africa: Emergency Rice Initiative Launched to Help Countries Severely Hit By Soaring Prices |
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| publisher = [[AllAfrica.com]] |
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| date = 2008-006-18 |
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| url = http://allafrica.com/stories/200806180893.html |
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| accessdate =2008-06-30 }} |
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</ref> It is an [[agriculture|agricultural]] research center working independently of any government.<ref name="official">{{cite web |
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| title = About Us |
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| publisher = African Rice Center Official Site |
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| url = http://www.warda.org/warda/aboutus.asp |
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| accessdate =2008-06-30 }} |
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</ref> Despite the change, it retains the use of the name "'''WARDA'''".<ref name=Grain2009>[http://www.grain.org/briefings/?id=215 Nerica: another trap for small farmers in Africa]. Grain Policy Briefing, January 2009. </ref> Its normal headquarters are in [[Bouaké]], [[Côte d'Ivoire]], but because of the political situation in that country, it is {{As of|2005|alt=currently}} operating from the premises of the [[International Institute of Tropical Agriculture]]'s station in Cotonou.<ref name="official" /> |
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The Center was created in 1971 by 11 African countries. Today its membership comprises 24 countries, covering West, Central, East and North African regions, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Uganda. |
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WARDA is one of the 15 specialized research centers – the "[[Future Harvest Center]]s" – of the [[Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research]] (CGIAR), begun in the mid 1970s as a private research and advocacy organization closely tied the "[[Green Revolution]]" and a variety of public and private funders. WARDA focused on developing and promoting new seed varieties for West Africa, including the "[[New Rice for Africa]]", an [[Interspecific competition|interspecific]] cultivar of [[rice]] developed to improve the yield of African rice varieties.<ref>{{cite web |
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Recognizing the strategic importance of rice for Africa and the effective geographic expansion of the Center – which was constituted as the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) in 1971 – its Council of Ministers took a historic decision in September 2009 to officially change its name to “Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice)” and to no longer refer to it as WARDA. |
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Its mission is 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. |
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| title = Warda accepts Egypt's membership application |
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The modus operandi of the Center is partnership at all levels. Its research and development activities are conducted in collaboration with various stakeholders—primarily the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), academic institutions, advanced research institutions, farmers’ organizations, non-governmental organizations, and donors—for the benefit of African farmers, mostly small-scale producers, as well as the millions of African families for whom rice means food. |
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| publisher = [[Africa Science News Service]] |
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The Center hosts the African Rice Initiative (ARI), the Regional Rice Research and Development Network for West and Central Africa (ROCARIZ), and the Inland Valley Consortium (IVC). |
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| date = 2008-06-25 |
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| url = http://africasciencenews.org/asns/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=505&Itemid=1 |
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AfricaRice temporary headquarters is based in Cotonou, Benin; research staff are also based in Senegal, Nigeria, Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire. |
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| accessdate =2008-06-30 }} |
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ref> |
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</ref> WARDA shares resources with several of these CGIAR organizations, including the [[International Rice Research Institute]] (IRRI) in Los Baños, Philippines. IRRI has been particularly criticized -- along with the CGIAR -- for its promotion of GMO seed,<ref>[http://www.biosafetyafrica.org.za/images/stories/dmdocuments/gene_revolution_brief.pdf “Africa's Green Revolution rolls out the Gene Revolution.”]. Mariam Mayet. African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) Briefing Paper No. 6. 2008. </ref> intensive agriculture, and purported ties to agribusiness corporations.<ref>Mark C. Jordan. [http://agron.scijournals.org/cgi/content/full/92/4/803 The Privatization of Food: Corporate Control of Biotechnology]. Agronomy Journal 92:803-806 (2000)</ref> WARDA, CGIAR, and its subentities have particularly close ties to the [[World Bank]] and western governments.<ref>[http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/par/Unmasking.the.green.revolution.pdf Unmasking the New Green Revolution in Africa: Motives, Players and Dynamics]. ELENITA C. DAÑO. Third World Network, Church Development Service (EED) and African Centre for Biosafety, 2007. </ref> Particularly controversial has been WARDA's promotion of the non-GMO but proprietary seed varieties such as [[Nerica]].<ref name=Grain2009 /> leading activists to question the motives of agribusiness development in West Africa.<ref>[http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/215/46148.html A New Philanthro-Capitalist Alliance in Africa? AGRA - The Return of the Green Revolution]. Galés Gabirondo. Global Policy Forum. 31 March 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.law.northwestern.edu/journals/njtip/v3/n2/4/ Intellectual Property and Genetically Modified Seeds: The United States, Trade, and the Developing World]. Haley Stein. Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property. Volume 3, Issue 2 (Spring 2005).</ref><ref>[http://www.scidev.net/en/policy-briefs/the-role-of-non-gm-biotechnology-in-developing-wor.html The role of non-GM biotechnology in developing world agriculture]. Zephaniah Dhlamini. Science and Development Policy Briefings. 1 February 2006.</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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[[African rice]] |
[[African rice]] |
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<References /> |
<References /> |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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*[http://www. |
*[http://www.AfricaRice.org Official site] |
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Revision as of 11:08, 14 September 2010
The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) is a leading pan-African research organization with a mission to contribute to poverty alleviation and food security in Africa through research, development and partnership activities. It is one of the 15 international agricultural research Centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It is also an autonomous intergovernmental research association of African member countries.
The Center was created in 1971 by 11 African countries. Today its membership comprises 24 countries, covering West, Central, East and North African regions, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Uganda.
Recognizing the strategic importance of rice for Africa and the effective geographic expansion of the Center – which was constituted as the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) in 1971 – its Council of Ministers took a historic decision in September 2009 to officially change its name to “Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice)” and to no longer refer to it as WARDA.
Its mission is 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.
The modus operandi of the Center is partnership at all levels. Its research and development activities are conducted in collaboration with various stakeholders—primarily the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), academic institutions, advanced research institutions, farmers’ organizations, non-governmental organizations, and donors—for the benefit of African farmers, mostly small-scale producers, as well as the millions of African families for whom rice means food.
The Center hosts the African Rice Initiative (ARI), the Regional Rice Research and Development Network for West and Central Africa (ROCARIZ), and the Inland Valley Consortium (IVC).
AfricaRice temporary headquarters is based in Cotonou, Benin; research staff are also based in Senegal, Nigeria, Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire. ref>
See also
References
External links
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