News

The West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF) now has a new Chairman of the Board. She is Mrs. Angela Maria P. Barreto da vega Moreno.

A Cape Verdean national, Ms. Moreno was elevated to the head of the Coraf Board of Directors late on Tuesday afternoon, April 10, 2018, by the General Assembly, which opened the same day in the Senegalese capital. The new Chairman of the Board replaces Dr. Alioune Fall, Director General of the Institut sénégalais de recherche agricole (ISRA), who has after two two-year terms, is now passing the baton to Ms. Moreno, who chairs the national institute for agricultural research and development in her country.

Gisèle Dalmeida, who represents Interface, the private sector on Coraf's Board of Directors, and who knows the new president, was asked for her reaction to the appointment. She described her as a "fighter", underlining that "she is a person committed to transforming agricultural research in her country".

Cape Verde being an island country, this nomination is a recognition of the actions that are being carried out in this country, said Ms. Dalmeida, before adding that "this will enable Cape Verde to be further integrated into the continental dynamic".

In addition to the new Chairman of the Board, a Vice-Chairman in the person of Dr Koye Djondang, Managing Director of the Chadian Research Institute for Agricultural Development, has also been appointed.

More than 150 delegates are gathered in Dakar, Senegal, for CORAF's 12th General Assembly. Over the next three days (April 10-12, 2018), they will review and adopt a new CORAF strategic and operational plan that opens up new opportunities to generate technological innovations to tackle climate change, youth employment, gender disparities and the region's food and nutrition challenges.

The opening ceremony of the General Assembly was presided over by the Senegalese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Equipment, Dr Papa Abdoulaye Seck, in the presence of his counterpart from Chad, Mr Assaid Gamar Sileck. Several other heads of national agricultural research systems, as well as representatives of development partners, regional institutions, producers' organizations and NGOs are taking part in this general meeting.