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Stakeholders from nine West African agricultural research centers meet in Saly, Senegal, to assess progress towards the coveted status of Regional Centers of Excellence (RCoE).

Visit nine national centers of specialization have been created with a view to their gradual transition to RCoE on the basis of a set of predefined criteria.

Some of these conditions include an agricultural research framework, the infrastructure and logistics to carry out quality research, a program of work that meets national and regional demands, qualified expertise to carry out research, a contribution to strengthening national research systems, a governance system, etc.

During a three-day workshop organized by the West African Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP), a program coordinated by CORAFexperts are expected to discuss the potential challenges these centers face in becoming RCoE.

Two of the nine centers have already received critical approval to become RCoE. They include the dry cereals research center based in Senegal and the roots and tubers center in Ghana. Some of the results of their work on climate-resilient and high-yielding varieties are among the most remarkable in the region.

At the Saly workshop, stakeholders will further discuss the form of support to be given to NCoS to move towards RCoE, and agree on a roadmap for the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) accreditation process. Only ECOWAS can issue accreditations to these centers.

Becoming an RCoE offers numerous opportunities. For example, it allows centers to mobilize more resources for research into a priority commodity in West Africa, and enables greater collaboration with national and international researchers and wide dissemination of results.

"The regional centers of excellence are designed to conduct research on issues of regional interest," said Dr. Lamien Niéyidouba Lamien, coordinator of the PPAAO program.

"They can participate in competitive funding calls and can mobilize the talent and skills needed across the region to implement their research program."

Other CORAF research centers include rice (Mali), fruits and legumes (Burkina Faso), plantain banana (Côte d'Ivoire), aquaculture (Nigeria), maize (Benin), livestock (Niger) and mangrove rice (Sierra Leone).

The results of an evaluation of all centers conducted by experts in 2017 will inform the workshop. Expected participants include government representatives, national agricultural research systems, WAPP national coordinators and ECOWAS representatives.