News

CORAF, through the European Union-funded ABEE project, has provided the Institut National de la Recherche Agricole du Niger (INRAN) with equipment and materials to strengthen and modernize breeding practices for the development of resilient varieties, at a ceremony held on Wednesday June 14, 2023 in Niamey, Niger.

The ABEE project (Strengthening Networks and Institutional Capacities in Plant Breeding for the Development of Resilient Crops to Meet the Needs of Farmers in West Africa) focuses on improving the skills and efficiency of breeding teams to enable them to use modern plant breeding techniques for rapid productivity gains. The modernization of plant breeding practices is essential to enable national programs to respond in a more relevant way to a demand for varieties targeted at market needs, and to gain in efficiency in the development of resilient, productive varieties of good nutritional quality, adapted to their local environment.

With this in mind, CORAF, in conjunction with the EU and the Consortium of partners in the ABEE project implemented as part of the European Union's DeSIRA initiative, is equipping INRAN with new equipment and materials, as well as promoting the installation of infrastructure to the tune of just over two hundred million CFA francs (200,000,000 F CFA). The equipment includes, among other things

• Rolling stock with 4 double-cab vehicles and 5 motorcycles,
• Computer equipment with 10 Laptops, 5 Desktops, 5 Printers and
• 20 Tablets,
• A refurbished cold store,
• Irrigation equipment,
• 3 boreholes,
• Laboratory equipment.

With these new investments, INRAN will be in a better position to carry out its varietal improvement activities for the main crops: millet, sorghum, cowpea, groundnut and fonio.

" CORAF and INRAN have enjoyed a special relationship since CORAF was founded in 1987. This long tradition of collaboration has enabled CORAF, over the past 10 years, to inject more than a billion CFA francs (1,137,745,090 FCFA) into agricultural research in Niger, through projects that have provided INRAN with modern infrastructure and equipment, including the Centre National de Spécialisation sur l'Elevage (National Livestock Specialization Center), for optimal management of research activities," explains Dr. Abdou Tenkouano, Executive Director of CORAF.

About the ABEE project

ABEE is a regional project (Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal) run by CORAF with INERA, INRAN, ISRA, CIRAD and AfricaRice, on behalf of the Integrated Breeding Platform (AR/IBP). The project aims to implement a more coordinated approach to varietal selection, at both regional and national levels, by placing breeders of five target crops (millet, sorghum, fonio, groundnut and cowpea) from three countries (Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal) at the heart of the action to improve and modernize their selection practices and better respond to market demand. The project is coordinated by CORAF under the European Union's DeSIRA funding program.