Formed in 1971, the Africa Rice Center (WARDA) is an autonomous intergovernmental research association of African member states. WARDA was first established by 11 West African countries with the assistance of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

WARDA's 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. Its projects include crop and natural resource management, especially on stress tolerant rice; integrated pest management; and bioinformatics.

WARDA's most important achievement, however, is its development of New Rice for Africa (NERICA), for which Dr. Monty Jones won the 2004 World Food Prize. First begun in 1991, NERICA initiated a biotechnology-based program to combine the best traits of the Asian and African rices. Today's NERICAs grow taller; have wide, droopy leaves which smother weeds in early growth; and develop tightly-held grains which prevent rice from shattering.

The Center conducts research in association with the African Rice Initiative (ARI), the Regional Rice Research and Development Network for West and Central Africa (ROCARIZ), and the Inland Valley Consortium (IVC). It also supports the Coordination Unit of the Eastern and Central African Rice Research Network (ECSARRN), based in Tanzania. Since January 2005, WARDA has been working out of the IITA-Benin station in Cotonou, having relocated from its headquarters in Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire, because of the Ivoirian crisis. WARDA has regional research stations near St Louis, Senegal and at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria.

At present, WARDA comprises 17 member states, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

For more information, visit http://www.warda.org.

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