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A delegation from the Académie Nationale des Sciences, des Arts et des Lettres du Burkina Faso (ANSAL-BF) visited CORAF's Executive Secretariat on January 20, 2023, as part of its efforts to strengthen partnerships in the sub-region.

The heads of the two institutions discussed possible avenues of collaboration, with the public in mind.

In addition to ANSAL-BF President Professor Paco SEREME, the delegation included :

• Professor Salaka SANOU, Deputy Permanent Secretary ;
• Professor Chantal ZOUNGRANA KABORÉ, President of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences ;
• Professor Moussa OUATTARA, President of the Collège sciences et techniques ;
• Dr Hamidou H. TAMBOURA, Chairman of the Partner Relations Commission; and
• Professor Jacques SIMPORE, Chairman of the Communication and Publications Commission.

A number of ideas for collaboration emerged from discussions between the heads of the two institutions, based on the operations and missions of each.

Population-focused collaboration

CORAF's main objective is to improve the livelihoods of people in West and Central Africa through sustainable increases in agricultural production and productivity, and the promotion of competitiveness and markets.

"To achieve its objective, CORAF promotes capacity building and the scaling-up of technologies and innovations developed by research, likely to catalyze development and the well-being of populations", said Dr. Abdou TENKOUANO, Executive Director of CORAF.

ANSAL-BF's mission is to promote quality research and teaching, ensuring that research is relevant to the challenges faced by the population. Also, to ensure that the products of research reach them and have a significant impact on them.

"We're going to have the opportunity to collaborate on common issues, emanating from the national level but which are concerns in all the countries of the sub-region", declared Professor Paco SEREME, President of ANSAL-BF, thus identifying points of convergence in the approaches of the two institutions.

Advocacy mission

Dr TENKOUANO also recalled that CORAF is an association of national agricultural research institutions (INRA) set up in 1987 and operating under a governance system that enables it to fulfill its mission.

"CORAF is governed by a Board of Directors, which relies on a Scientific and Technical Committee of twelve (12) members, mainly academics, to guide the scientific work carried out. We could use the Academy's support in this area," said Dr. TENKOUANO.

"The Academy could help CORAF to respond in time to the challenges it faces, by supporting it in its forward-looking reflections and analyses as part of its monitoring and anticipation role, on the one hand, and in its reflections on new themes that are not yet part of CORAF's current priorities, on the other. The fruits of these reflections will be used as advocacy tools to sensitize the authorities".

For his part, the President of ANSAL-BF agreed, pointing out that "one of the Academy's roles is to provide advice to governments and other institutions in need".

The two parties have agreed to draw up a memorandum of understanding to formalize their collaboration.

See also :

• Burkina Faso Ambassador visits CORAF

Burkina Faso's ambassador to Dakar talks about innovation, youth and agriculture