As
part of a global programme on rice science that has laid out concrete and
quantifiable key impacts to benefit the poor, the hungry, and the environment
in the next 25 years, rice experts in Africa have adopted a more
interdisciplinary and product-oriented approach in order to deliver greater
development impacts, says the Africa Rice Centre (WARDA).
The
innovative programme known as the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP) aims
to mobilize the very best of the world’s rice science and involve the widest
range of stakeholders possible in the technology generation and dissemination
process to address, among others, Africa’s major rice development challenges.
“We
acknowledge the urgency to conduct research activities differently – to do more
and to do better, given the increasing poverty throughout the world,” stated
AfricaRice Director General Dr. Papa Abdoulaye Seck. “GRiSP proposes a new
global approach to research and we are part of this programme.”
Laying
emphasis on the need for pooling intelligence to better exploit the comparative
advantages of all the partners to address more efficiently the constraints to
rice production, Dr. Seck spelt out 10 conditions that are essential for GRiSP
to become a successful programme and ensure a high degree of satisfaction among
rice farmers and consumers throughout the world.
The
conditions include the need to respect the diversity of partnerships, regional
differences and institutional identities in the GRiSP, while rejecting
“hegemonic thinking.” “It is only the synthesis of these differences that will
make us move forward,” Dr. Seck said at the recent GRiSP-Africa Science Forum
held at AfricaRice in Cotonou, Benin.
The
conditions also specify the need for equitable resource allocation based on the
real requirements of the various regions; the urgency to strengthen the
capacity of African stakeholders; the significant role of the national partners
within the GRiSP; the importance of continuous dialogue with policy-makers; and
the need to avoid bureaucracy as well as excessive evaluation where scientists
spend more time writing reports than doing research.
The
GRiSP-Africa Science Forum, which was attended by over 100 international and
national rice experts, including representatives of all the key partners,
reviewed the progress made by GRiSP in Africa in 2011. The results focused on
the development of new research products – ranging from gene discovery to small
combine harvesters and policy briefs for decision-makers – grouped under six
GRiSP themes.
“We
saw some exciting progress in marker-assisted selection (MAS) work on
resistance to rice diseases and pests and salinity. This work is very valuable
in the context of the changing climate in the continent,” said AfricaRice
Deputy Director General and Director of Research for Development Dr. Marco
Wopereis.
“This
research activity involves many experts, not only from AfricaRice and its
national and regional partners, but also from the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI), the French Research Institute for Development (IRD), the
Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) and
other advanced research institutes. It is therefore an excellent example of how
GRiSP works as it helps leverage global expertise to solve Africa’s rice
problems.”
Dr.
Marco Wopereis also highlighted the major shift in focus from supply-driven
research where the emphasis is mainly on increasing rice production to more
demand- or market-driven research, where the attention is given to the entire
rice value chain.
Launched
in November 2010, GRiSP is the first CGIAR Research Program (CRP) to be
approved. It operates under the overall leadership of IRRI, which also oversees
the activities in Asia; AfricaRice is leading the work in Africa, and the
International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in the Latin America &
Caribbean region.
The
French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), IRD
and JIRCAS are playing a strategic role in GRiSP, with hundreds of other
partners worldwide representing governments, the private sector, farmers’
organizations and civil society.
Dr.
Achim Dobermann, IRRI Deputy Director General for Research & GRiSP Program
Director, who took an active part in the GRiSP-Africa Science Forum, expressed
his satisfaction with the progress made by the Africa-based team in 2011,
particularly with regard to the new way of doing research.
“We
live in a globalized world and we can move much faster if we can learn from
each other and incorporate that knowledge into our own thinking. And this
learning goes in all directions – from Asia to Africa, from Africa to Asia,
from Africa to Latin America and so on,” Dr. Dobermann explained.
In
his capacity as the outgoing Chair of the AfricaRice National Experts
Committee, Dr. Babou Jobe, Director General of the National Agriculture
Research Institute, The Gambia, confirmed “100 percent support” to GRiSP,
particularly its major thrust on strengthening national capacity. He was
pleased to learn that one third of the Global Rice Science Scholarships had
gone to African students in 2011.
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