Eastern and Central African Countries Join WARDA

Africa Rice Center’s (WARDA) Council of Ministers approved the geographic expansion of the center’s mandate by admitting four Eastern and Central African countries as new members. The approval, made at the recently concluded 26^th Council of Ministers session, marked a historic change in rice research in sub-Saharan Africa. The new members include the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Uganda. WARDA, primarily based in West Africa, has now a total of 21 member states.

 “This is the first time since 1987 that new members have joined WARDA,” stated WARDA Director General Dr Papa Abdoulaye Seck. “But what is more important is that the new member States are from Eastern and Central Africa – regions that, unlike West Africa, were not traditionally known for rice cultivation.” He also added that countries like Uganda and the Republic of Congo are keen to join WARDA for they are seeing the success of the center’s technologies, particularly the New Rice for Africa (NERICA), a high yielding and stress tolerant hybrid rice now cultivated by most African upland farmers.

Read the press release at http://www.warda.org/warda/newsrel-COM-oct07.asp