AfricaRice Audio Podcasts

The Africa-wide Rice Breeding Task Force, convened by the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), has recently nominated six varieties with improved tolerance to environmental stresses as ARICA, which stands for Advanced Rice Varieties for Africa.

The ARICA varieties are selected through a rigorous multi-environment testing process including regional and national trials as well as participatory varietal selection involving farmers.

The varieties were evaluated through the project Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA), which is helping farmers who produce their crop under predominantly rainfed conditions, in which stresses such as drought, flood, cold, salinity and iron toxicity reduce yields.

The STRASA project is being implemented by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and AfricaRice in partnership with national programs with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It covers 18 countries in Africa.

The project is linking up with various partners, including non-governmental organizations, such as the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and BRAC as well as private seed producers, such as FEPRODES and NAFASO, for dissemination of improved seed in Africa.

Listen to the comments on this exciting development from rice experts. 

Speakers in the podcast (in order of intervention)

Baboucarr Manneh, AfricaRice Irrigated Rice Breeder and STRASA-Africa Coordinator.

Kofi Bimpong, AfricaRice Molecular Biologist.

Moussa Sié, AfricaRice Senior Breeder and Breeding Task Force Coordinator

Ibnou Dieng, AfricaRice Biometrician

Gary Atlin, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Peinda Cissé, Rice Seed Producer and Founder-President of FEPRODES Women's Association, Senegal

Abdoulaye Sawadogo, Rice Seed Producer and Director of  NAFASO, Burkina Faso

Issoufou Kapran, Program Officer for Seed Production and Dissemination, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

Podcast by : R.Raman, AfricaRice, Savitri Mohapatra, AfricaRice

AfricaRice Interim Director General Adma Traoré welcoming participants of the 2014 AfricaRice Science Week and GRiSP Africa Science Forum.

For more information, please visit www.AfricaRice.org.

Podcast by : R.Raman, AfricaRice; Savitri Mohapatra, AfricaRice

Feedback from participants of 2014 AfricaRice Science Week and GRiSP Africa Science Forum.

Podcast by : R.Raman, AfricaRice; Savitri Mohapatra, AfricaRice

For more information, please visit www.AfricaRice.org.

GRiSP Director Bas Bouman gives his impressions of 2014 AfricaRice Science Week and GRiSP Africa Science Forum

For more information, please visit www.GRiSP.net.

Podcast by : R.Raman, AfricaRice; Savitri Mohapatra, AfricaRice

AfricaRice Deputy Director General Marco Wopereis reports on the highlights of 2014 AfricaRice Science Week and GRiSP Africa Science Forum.

For more information, please visit www.AfricaRice.org.

Podcast by : R.Raman, AfricaRice; Savitri Mohapatra, AfricaRice

Delegates and participants of the 29th Ordinary Session of the AfricaRice Council of Ministers held in N’Djamena, Chad, 10-11 December 2013, took some time off from the meeting to express their feelings on the passing away of Nelson Mandela. 

Speakers in the podcast (in order of intervention)

• Adama Traoré, Director General-Interim, AfricaRice
• Hon. Moussa Mahamat Agrey, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Chad
• Hon. Bruno Jean Richard Itoua, Minister of Scientific Research, Republic of Congo
• Hon. Papa Abdoulaye Seck, Ministre de l’Agriculture et de l’équipement rural, Senegal
• Hon. Ruth Nankabirwa, Minister of State for Fisheries, Uganda
• Yte Wongbe, Directeur général, Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CNRA), Côte d'Ivoire
• Grégoire Bani, Directeur général, Centre de recherche agricole de Loudima (CRAL), République du Congo
• Ramadjita Tabo, Deputy Executive Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Ghana
• Famoï Béavogui, Directeur général, Institut de Recherche Agronomique de Guinée (IRAG), Guinea
• Aaron Marshall, Director General, Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI), Liberia
• Bruno Rakotomahefa, Directeur général, Technique, Ministère de l'Agriculture, Madagascar
• Bourema Dembelé, Directeur général, Institut d'Economie Rurale (IER), Mali
• Alioune Fall, Directeur général, Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA), Sénégal
• Aboubakar Njoya, Directeur des Programmes, Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la Recherche et le Développement Agricoles (CORAF/WECARD), Senegal
• Djondang Koye, Directeur Scientifique, Institut Tchadien de Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (ITRAD), Tchad
• Atsu Comlan Agbobli, Directeur général, Institut Togolais de Recherche Agricole (ITRA), Togo

Podcast by : R.Raman, AfricaRice

While Cameroon is renowned worldwide as the land of the 'Indomitable Lions' and is often described as 'Africa in miniature' -- because of its rich diversity of climate, ecology, landscape and culture -- few are aware that the country has huge potential to not only achieve rice self-sufficiency but to also become the rice granary of the Central African sub-region.

The country is endowed with large swathes of arable land, abundant water resources and favorable agro-climatic conditions that offer high potential for rice production. Recognizing the agribusiness potential and in response to the food crisis that severely affected Cameroon in 2008, the government is taking measures to revitalize the rice sector.

Several donors, such as the World Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), are supporting the government's efforts to improve food security.

For more, listen to this podcast or visit www.AfricaRice.org

Podcast by : Savitri Mohapatra, AfricaRice; R.Raman, AfricaRice

Dr Yo Tiemoko, Board Member of AfricaRice, Former Director General, CNRA, Côte d'Ivoire, speaks about his expectations for the 3rd Africa Rice Congress, 21-24 October 2013, in Yaoundé, Cameroon…

For more information, visit www.africarice.org/arc2013

 

Podcast by : Savitri Mohapatra, R.Raman, AfricaRice

Ms. Thenjiwe Chikane , AfricaRice Board Member, Director, NEDBANK Group Limited, South Africa, speaks about her expectations for the 3rd Africa Rice Congress, 21-24 October 2013, in Yaoundé, Cameroon…

  

For more information, visit www.africarice.org/arc2013

 

Podcast by : Savitri Mohapatra, R.Raman, AfricaRice

Dr Takashi Kumashiro, GRiSP-AfricaRice Theme 2 Leader, AfricaRice, Benin speaks about his expectations for the 3rd Africa Rice Congress, 21-24 October 2013, in Yaoundé, Cameroon.…

For more information, visit www.africarice.org/arc2013

 

Podcast by : Savitri Mohapatra, R.Raman, AfricaRice