First ASARECA General Assembly

AfricaRice participated in the exhibition showcasing agricultural research, extension, education, training and development work under the theme ‘Feeding Our Region in the 21st Century’ as part of the First General Assembly of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) held in Entebbe, Uganda, 14–16 December.

Over 350 agricultural researchers

Data collection and analysis training course

A training course on ‘Data collection and analysis’ was
organized in collaboration with national programs participating in the Africa
Rice Breeding Task Force, 12–16 December, in Cotonou, to help rice researchers
adopt good principles of data collection and management, improve the quality
and quantity of their research publications and conduct statistical analyses.
The course targeted

Workshop on National and Regional Variety Catalogs

A workshop on ‘Varietal release and national and regional
variety catalogs’ was held, 15–16 December, in Cotonou, to raise awareness of
rice breeders involved in the Africa Rice Breeding Task Force on issues
relating to variety testing, characterization, releases, cataloguing and
maintenance; breeder/foundation seed production; and harmonization of
descriptors. Presentations on the current

First ASARECA General Assembly

AfricaRice
participated in the exhibition showcasing agricultural research, extension,
education, training and development work under the theme ‘Feeding Our Region in
the 21st Century’ as part of the First General Assembly of the Association for
Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA)
held in Entebbe, Uganda, 14–16 December.



Over 350
agricultural

Improving rice postharvest handling, marketing and development of new rice-based products

The inaugural
meeting of the Project Steering Committee of the CIDA-funded project on ‘Enhancing
food security in Africa through the improvement of rice post-harvest handling,
marketing and the development of new rice-based products’ was held in Cotonou
on 15 December.



The meeting
was attended by 14 participants representing CIDA, AfricaRice, the Commission
de la communauté économique et

Youth Employment Program in Mali

Youth Employment Program in Mali In view of AfricaRice’s new emphasis on improved postharvest technologies, which will help open up opportunities for local households to raise their incomes by promoting the development of new rice-based products, the Center was invited by  the Government of Mali to showcase its work at the country’s National Youth Employment Program 13–15 December.

The

Training course in grain quality evaluation

A basic
course in rice grain quality evaluation was conducted from 7 to 9 December for
English-speaking countries and from 12 to 14 December for French-speaking
countries in Cotonou. Participants from 12 countries involved in the STRASA
project attended. The course, which included both theory and practical
sessions, offered an opportunity for the participants to learn about the basics
of

The case for an affordable locally adapted combine-harvester

Harvesting and threshing of paddy are serious bottlenecks for rice farmers. Large combine-harvesters are ill adapted to the rice fields of smallholders. Consequently, paddy may sit in the field for weeks or even months waiting to be harvested or threshed, during which time its quality deteriorates because of exposure to the elements.
As a result, many rice farmers resort to manual

Le cas d’une moissonneuse-batteuse adaptée et accessible localement

La récolte et le battage du paddy constituent de sérieuses contraintes pour les riziculteurs. Les grandes moissonneuses-batteuses sont inadaptées aux petites exploitations des paysans. Par conséquent, le paddy peut rester au champ pendant des semaines avant d’être récolté ou battu, pendant ce temps sa qualité se détériore du fait de l’exposition aux aléas climatiques.

Ainsi, de nombreux

Mise en place des Groupes d’action à l’échelle du continent africain en vue d’accélérer la livraison de technologies rizicoles

Les experts riz nationaux et internationaux d’Afrique se sont réunis pour mettre en place des Groupes d’action à l’échelle du continent dans les domaines thématiques importants du secteur rizicole en vue de stimuler la livraison de technologies améliorées.


Se focalisant sur cinq thèmes – (1) sélection, (2) agronomie, (3) post-récolte & valorisation, (4) politique, et (5) genre – les Groupes

Training on experimental auctions held in Kampala

A training
course on experimental auctions, financed by CIDA, was organized by AfricaRice
and the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) Cereals Program of
the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) in Kampala, Uganda from
4 to 9 December. One facilitator and eight trainees from eight organizations
were trained. The trainees came from organizations in Cameroon, Gambia

Enhancing smallholder access to improved rice technologies in West and Central Africa

The phase 1 of the IFAD-funded project ‘Enhancing Smallholder
Access to NERICA for Alleviating Rural Poverty in West and Central Africa’ came
to an end in December after 4 years of activities. A final workshop was held, 6–8
December, in Cotonou, to enable the regional project coordinator and national
project coordinators from Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea and Sierra Leone
to discuss the

African Development Bank meeting

On behalf of AfricaRice, DDG Marco Wopereis
participated in a meeting with the Operations and Development Effectiveness
Committee (CODE) of the Board of AfDB in Tunis, Tunisia, on 1 December, to
answer questions regarding the SARD-SC project. About 20 members of the board
attended. Also present in this meeting were: Monty P. Jones (FARA), Jonathan
Wadsworth (Fund Office), Lystra Antoine (Fund