News

CORAF's General Assembly has unanimously approved a new ten-year plan, ushering in a new era in research and development in West and Central Africa.

Meeting in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, on Tuesday, April 11, 2018, the General Assembly approved changes aimed at sustainably transforming the agricultural economy in West and Central Africa.

The plan prioritizes the scaling-up of innovative technologies and, more importantly, accelerates the adoption of existing technologies. Other key priorities include trade facilitation and market access, reducing gender disparities and promoting youth employment.

The total cost of implementing this plan is estimated at 60 million USD over the next five years.

"Today is a good day for CORAF in that its stakeholders have reached a consensus on what they want to do to contribute to prosperity, food and nutritional security in West and Central Africa", explains Dr. Abdou Tenkouano, Executive Director of CORAF.

"Normally, we'd be delighted. But the enormity of the task ahead means we can't afford to take a break. We need to focus immediately on mobilizing the right partnerships to come up with innovative solutions to improve the livelihoods of our people," continued Dr Tenkouano.

NCoS and innovation platforms are essential

USAID expresses its satisfaction

We've come a long way, representing the private sector

The 23 economies of West and Central Africa face high unemployment rates, particularly among young people. Food and nutrition insecurity, climate change, gender disparities and mass migration of young people to unknown destinations remain pressing challenges. Governments are looking to the agricultural sector in particular to find solutions to these obstacles.

The adoption of the new plans marks the end of a long process during which hundreds of stakeholders from government, the research community, the private sector, farmers' groups and civil society were consulted.

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About CORAF?

CORAF is an international non-profit association of National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) from 23 countries covering over forty percent of Africa's population, making it the largest sub-regional research organization on the African continent. It was created in 1987. Prior to this, most NARS were weak and had limited research capacity, generally working in isolation. CORAF's main mandate at the time was to coordinate research and development activities in West and Central Africa. By working together, there is a better chance of developing the groundbreaking, cutting-edge research results needed to unlock the agricultural potential of both regions.

What does CORAF do?

Cutting-edge agricultural innovation through research is at the heart of what CORAF does. The Dakar-based research organization collaborates with national agricultural research systems and regional centers of excellence to effectively tackle cross-cutting, cross-border and regional challenges.

What are some of his achievements?

As part of the USAID-funded West Africa Seed Program ( WASP ) between 2011 and 2016, CORAF helped participating countries adopt harmonized seed regulations to facilitate farmers' access to quality seed, and increased the rate of certified seed produced in the region from 12% to 25%. Business models for agribusinesses are now available, while private and public players are now working together to ensure the scaling-up of seed production and distribution needed to transform agriculture in West Africa.

As part of the World Bank-funded West African Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP), CORAF has facilitated the production and dissemination of over 400 technologies since 2008. The WAPP, ranked second best project by the World Bank in 2016, has benefited 9 million people directly and 49 million indirectly.

With many African agricultural researchers nearing retirement, PPAAO has been able to train over 1,000 young researchers to continue advancing the agricultural research agenda in their countries.

Overall, over the 30 years of its existence, CORAF has provided leadership and facilitation support to develop common research objectives in West and Central Africa.

"We don't often say it, but one of CORAF's major successes over the last 30 years has been getting researchers from English-, French- and Portuguese-speaking countries to work together to solve common regional challenges," stresses CORAF's Executive Director.