Biotech Updates

Collaborative Project to Raise Crop Productivity in Africa

July 17, 2013

More than 60 researchers and partners have met under the Support for Agricultural Research and Development of Strategic Crops (SARD-SC)'s event "Partners, Possibilities and Prospects" on July 15 at the 6th African Agricultural Science Week in Accra, Ghana. The SARD-SC project aims to raise the productivity of maize, cassava, wheat, and rice by 20 percent in selected countries in Africa.

About a million farmers will directly benefit from the project through its innovations basket, while another million and half will be reached by project spin-off effects. Funded by the African Development Bank with US$ 63.24 million, SARD-SC also aims to create knowledge on the tested innovations with farmers in Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

View IITA's news release at http://www.iita.org/2013-press-releases/-/asset_publisher/CxA7/content/farmers-in-twenty-african-countries-get-new-window-of-opportunity-to-significantly-increase-yield?redirect=/2013-press-releases/#.UeSnidKOq8A.