PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
AU signs MoU with AfricaRice
Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Realising the strategic importance of rice to Africa’s quest for food security and poverty reduction, the African Union Commission and the Africa Rice Centre (AfricaRice) have agreed to jointly promote the rice sector in the continent through research, development and capacity building.
The major focus of the agreement includes policy research and analysis, promoting production technologies and agricultural innovation systems.
It also includes the provision of policy communications, facilitating dialogue to inform, improve the design and implementation of food, as well as agricultural policies among the member states of the African Union.
“This will help create the political will to move Africa’s rice sector forward,” the Director-General of the Centre, Dr. Papa Abdoulaye Seck, said after the MoU was signed.
Despite significant increases in domestic rice production in many African countries during 2008 and 2009, the region still imports nearly 40 per cent of the rice it consumes, which makes it highly exposed to international market shocks.
However, the AfricaRice boss explained that the collaboration with the African Union would facilitate the required link with policy-makers to transform the rice sector.
“Africa can turn around the situation as it possesses a large reservoir of underutilized agricultural land and water resources and many technological options, developed by AfricaRice and its partners are already available,” Seck said.
The agreement was signed at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, between Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, the AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, while Dr. Seck signed on behalf of the centre’s 24-member states.
“Today, the African Union Commission gets an opportunity to take one concrete step towards the achievement of a vision that both our institutions share: one of an Africa free from hunger and poverty,” Dr. Tumusiime said.
The signing ceremony was followed by a technical meeting to explore areas of collaboration, including the development of a regional value chain approach and a common market initiative for rice.
This is part of the existing partnership between the African Union Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (AU-DREA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) to develop regional value chains for strategic agricultural commodities.
-0- PANA SB/BOS 20July2011
The major focus of the agreement includes policy research and analysis, promoting production technologies and agricultural innovation systems.
It also includes the provision of policy communications, facilitating dialogue to inform, improve the design and implementation of food, as well as agricultural policies among the member states of the African Union.
“This will help create the political will to move Africa’s rice sector forward,” the Director-General of the Centre, Dr. Papa Abdoulaye Seck, said after the MoU was signed.
Despite significant increases in domestic rice production in many African countries during 2008 and 2009, the region still imports nearly 40 per cent of the rice it consumes, which makes it highly exposed to international market shocks.
However, the AfricaRice boss explained that the collaboration with the African Union would facilitate the required link with policy-makers to transform the rice sector.
“Africa can turn around the situation as it possesses a large reservoir of underutilized agricultural land and water resources and many technological options, developed by AfricaRice and its partners are already available,” Seck said.
The agreement was signed at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, between Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, the AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, while Dr. Seck signed on behalf of the centre’s 24-member states.
“Today, the African Union Commission gets an opportunity to take one concrete step towards the achievement of a vision that both our institutions share: one of an Africa free from hunger and poverty,” Dr. Tumusiime said.
The signing ceremony was followed by a technical meeting to explore areas of collaboration, including the development of a regional value chain approach and a common market initiative for rice.
This is part of the existing partnership between the African Union Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (AU-DREA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) to develop regional value chains for strategic agricultural commodities.
-0- PANA SB/BOS 20July2011
