African Rice Experts Adopt a New Way of Doing Business

As part of the global program on rice science, experts in Africa have adopted a more interdisciplinary and product-oriented approach to deliver greater impacts that will benefit the poor, the hungry and the environment in the next 25 years. This innovative program is known as Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP), which aims "to mobilize the very best of the world's rice science and involve the widest range of stakeholders possible in the technology generation and dissemination process to address, among others, Africa's major rice development challenges."

GRiSP was launched in November 2001 and operates under the leadership of IRRI, which manages the activities in Asia; AfricaRice is leading the work in Africa, and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in the Latin America & Caribbean region.

According to AfricaRice Director General Dr. Papa Abdoulaye Seck, GRiSP proposes a new global approach to research, which will be implemented into programs. He gave 10 conditions that are essential for GRiSP to become a successful program and maintain the deep satisfaction of rice farmers and consumers around the world. The ten conditions can be summarized in one sentence: "Partnership is not something that is superimposed on research activities."

Read the original release http://www.africarice.org/warda/newsrel-grisp-africa-forum-oct11.asp. The ten essential conditions for success are available at http://www.africarice.org/warda/grisp-DG-ten-conditions.asp.