{"id":13097,"date":"2026-06-20T12:26:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/twenty-african-countries-to-benefit-from-maize-cassava-wheat-and-rice-intervention\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T12:26:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:21","slug":"twenty-african-countries-to-benefit-from-maize-cassava-wheat-and-rice-intervention","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/twenty-african-countries-to-benefit-from-maize-cassava-wheat-and-rice-intervention\/","title":{"rendered":"Vingt pays africains vont b\u00e9n\u00e9ficier d'une intervention sur le ma\u00efs, le manioc, le bl\u00e9 et le riz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Rice-intervention.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-9871\" src=\"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Rice-intervention.jpg\" alt=\"Rice intervention\" width=\"250\" height=\"170\" \/><\/a>Nigeria  and 19 other African countries will directly benefit from the African Development Bank-funded initiative known as the Support for Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops (SARD-SC), but the multiplier effect of the project is expected to affect other regional member countries in the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Direct beneficiaries of the intervention include Benin, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Ug anda, Zambia,  and Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut the project will have a positive spin off effect in the other member countries,\u201d according to the Project Coordinator, SARD-SC, Dr Chrys Akem at the country launch of the project in Abuja last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scientists  and policy makers say the initiative will help narrow the yield gap facing Africa\u2019s strategic crops even as most countries on the continent embark on agricultural reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSARD-SC is a huge opportunity for Nigeria to bridge the yield gap through increased local production,\u201d says the Executive Secretary, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), Prof Baba Yusuf Abubakar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nigeria\u2019s Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akin Adesina, who was represented by Dr Martins Fregene, also welcomed the project, noting that it would complement ongoing efforts to transform agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maize, cassava, rice,  and wheat are considered crops of strategic importance for Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Nigeria for instance, about 20 percent of households consume maize at different times, according to ARCN. The crop is consumed by millions of people. The country also imports about 3.4 million metric tons of wheat annually to meet its dem and. Rice importation is also huge while cassava is both a food security  and cash crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prof. Abubakar said that the project would provide leverage for ongoing reforms especially the Agricultural Transformation Agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Deputy Director General (Partnerships &amp; Capacity Development), Dr Kenton Dashiell, said that the project has several components including agricultural technologies  and innovations generation, agricultural technologies  and innovations dissemination,  and sustainable capacity development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To achieve the set goals, Dr Dashiell emphasized partnerships among various stakeholders\u2014farmers, input dealers, farmers, researchers, consumers, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He stressed that the overall objective was to enhance food  and nutrition security,  and contribute to poverty reduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Approved in 2012, the SARD-SC project is a US$63.24-million funded initiative that is being co-implemented by three Africa-based centers under the CGIAR namely, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice),  and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). IITA is also the Executing Agency of the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Country Representative (Nigeria), African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Ousmane Dore, said the project would contribute towards addressing the current shortfall in food supply in the continent by working across the full value chain of each crop  and addressing both food costs  and employment creation. According to him, through the value chain approach, SARD-SC will also contribute to crop-livestock integration based on the use of the commodities\u2019 by-products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information, please contact: Chrys Akem, <a>c.akem@cgiar.org<\/a>  and Godwin Atser, <a>g.atser@cgiar.org<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nigeria and 19 other African countries will directly benefit from the African Development Bank-funded initiative known as the Support for Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops (SARD-SC), but the multiplier effect of the project is expected to affect other regional member countries in the continent&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[],"news-type":[],"hub":[],"crop":[],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[191],"class_list":["post-13097","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","hentry","item-year-191"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - 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