AfricaRice, AATF sign five-year partnership to accelerate rice self-sufficiency, improve farmers’ livelihoods – EnviroNews

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The Africa Rice Centre (AfricaRice) and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) have signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly promote rice productivity, strengthen food and nutrition security, and reduce poverty across Africa.

This agreement brings together two of the continent’s leading agricultural institutions: AfricaRice’s world-class expertise in rice research and breeding, and AATF’s proven track record in technology diffusion smallholder farmers in 32 African countries.

As part of the partnership, the two organisations will work together to improve rice value chains, expand farmers’ access to improved rice varieties — including hybrids with High yield — and promote sustainable and productivity-enhancing practices from seed to market. Key areas of joint action include the production and distribution of quality seeds, good agricultural practices, mechanisation, decision-making tools for efficient use of inputs, as well as rice processing technologies.

Dr. Baboucarr Manneh, CEO of AfricaRice, highlighted the potential of this partnership to bridge the gap between science and impact: “Through this partnership, we will work with AATF to develop and promote mechanized tools and agricultural equipment aimed at reducing the arduousness of work in rice production, improving processing efficiency and improving the quality of locally produced rice:

“We are at a turning point in Africa’s food production journey, where population growth, climate change and declining agricultural productivity continue to threaten food and nutrition security. By investing in agricultural innovations, we have a unique opportunity to transform African agriculture into a powerful engine of economic growth,” said Dr. Canisius Kanangire, Executive Director of the AATF.

This MoU positions AfricaRice’s research program and AATF’s public-private partnership model as complementary forces in the continent’s actions toward self-sufficiency in rice — a target that has benefited from significant political and financial momentum following the investment pledges of $1.54 billion at the recent Roundtable on Rice Investment in West Africa, held in Accra.