News

Agricultural research in WCA: Burkina Faso's ambassador to Senegal congratulates CORAF/WECARD on its leadership in partnership synergy

Burkina Faso's Ambassador to Senegal, Dr. Aline KOALA, congratulated the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) on its contribution to the achievement of agriculture-led economic growth through better access for populations to agricultural innovations and policies. Dr Aline KOALA also pleaded for "availability and access for all" to the results of research and scientific knowledge for effective agricultural transformation in the region.

The Ambassador of Burkina Faso to Senegal, made this statement on November 29, 2016 during his visit to the CORAF/WECARD Executive Secretariat in Dakar.

Welcoming the Ambassador, CORAF/WECARD Executive Director Dr. Abdou TENKOUANO highlighted CORAF/WECARD's comparative advantage as the institution best placed to facilitate synergies and partnership for agricultural research and development in West and Central Africa. He also highlighted the institution's efforts to combat food insecurity and malnutrition, support youth and women's employment, and improve the resilience of smallholders in Burkina Faso and the region.

CORAF/WECARD's key achievements and interventions in Burkina Faso include the promotion of diet diversification with increased vegetable production, adapted post-harvest techniques for vegetables and mangoes, and increased production of certified seeds thanks to facilitated access to credit worth over 2 billion FCFA for 2,000 seed producers. Burkina Faso's contribution to efforts to mobilize 130 tonnes of basic seeds as part of the post-Ebola recovery plan for Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone was also praised.

The Ambassador congratulated CORAF/WECARD on these achievements. "I am truly impressed by CORAF's ability to create synergies in research to improve agricultural productivity and the livelihoods of farmers and the population in terms of nutrition and the effective achievement of food security," said Dr Aline KOALA.

To this end, the Ambassador invited CORAF/WECARD to participate in the next monthly meeting of the ECOWAS Ambassadors' Group. "We, ambassadors, are the relay of our citizens and when we are informed of initiatives as laudable as those of CORAF/WECARD, we do not hesitate to share the information with our governments and the population".

"This visit, which is the first by an Ambassador to the CORAF/WECARD Executive Secretariat, is for us an initiative to be welcomed and perpetuated. It enabled us to make our institution better known, and to demonstrate the diplomatic dimension of research and development as an instrument of regional cooperation and integration", declared the Executive Director.