News

[Cotonou, Benin, July 18, 2022] The economic capital of the Republic of Benin, Cotonou, will host a symposium from July 19 to 21, 2022, with the overall aim of taking stock of agricultural research for development (AR4D) in West and Central Africa (WCA). 

Initiated by CORAF, the symposium will bring together around a hundred participants, mainly to reflect on and exchange views on both the AR4D achievements to be capitalized on in the region, and the gaps to be filled. 

"Agricultural research for development has proved particularly effective over the last few decades in West and Central Africa, generating a myriad of technologies and innovations. However, it has to be said that the actors and populations do not capitalize enough on the achievements of this research. This is reflected in the low rate of adoption of technologies and innovations", says Dr Emmanuel NJUKWE, Director of Research and Innovation at CORAF.

"As a result, agriculture in West and Central Africa is still subject to disruption, and continues to struggle to respond promptly to emergencies," he observes.

The theme of the scientific meeting is "Agricultural technologies and innovations: climate-smart solutions for transforming emergency and post-emergency situations".

Four main themes will guide the discussions at the symposium: 

1. Climate-smart agriculture (crop, livestock, aquaculture, forestry and environment): adaptation and mitigation;
2. Transboundary plant pests and diseases ;
3. Restoring degraded land and managing soil and water fertility; and
4. Post-harvest management (processing, preservation and marketing)

"With this symposium, CORAF aims to instigate a paradigm shift, bringing stakeholders together to set up an operational platform for scientific knowledge management, which will serve West and Central African agricultural systems to be more effective in helping populations manage emergency and post-emergency situations", says Dr NJUKWE.

CORAF is organizing the symposium as part of the scaling-up of Agricultural Technologies and Innovations for Increasing the Resilience of Production Systems and Family Farms in West and Central Africa(TARSPro) project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

This symposium is in line with one of the main objectives of the TARSPro project, which is to ensure a coalition and synergy of action between players involved in agricultural transformation.

The event is organized by CORAF in collaboration with the Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Bénin, which is the implementing partner of the TARSPro project in the country. 

In addition to Benin, the TARSPro project is being implemented in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Chad.

As a result, the Cotonou symposium will also provide an opportunity to strengthen the commitment of the project's stakeholders at regional level, by setting up a regional steering committee.

Expected participants include Benin government authorities, representatives of the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) of the twenty-three (23) WCA countries under the coordination of CORAF, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the SDC, researchers and academics, and several other stakeholders.

It is expected that the conclusions and recommendations of the symposium, as well as the compilation of the summary notes of the various presentations to be made on each of the four priority themes, will constitute the proceedings of the symposium and will be shared with all players in the agricultural sector.