3rd Africa Rice Congress

credit: AfricaRice

21-25 October 2013, Yaoundé, Cameroon. 3rd Africa Rice Congress:  Rice Science for Food Security and Agri-business Development in Africa.  This congres is bringing together more than 650 participants from 60 countries – including 36 countries from Africa and 24 countries from outside Africa – to discuss recent developments in science and technology, policies, agri-business issues and investment opportunities relating to Africa’s rice sector.

The 3rd Africa Rice Congress is being co-organized by the Africa Rice Center(AfricaRice) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO) in partnership with the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development of Cameroon (IRAD).

The objectives of the Congress are to:

• Provide a platform to discuss rice science and technology aimed at improving rice production, processing and marketing along the value chain whilst preserving environmental services and coping with climate change.
• Provide a platform for development organizations, farmer associations, civil society, private sector and research organizations to communicate and interact for greater and equitable impact on food security and value chain development.
• Discuss effective policy instruments and investments at national, regional and continental levels for sustainable smallholder and agri-business development to boost Africa’s rice sector.

credit: AfricaRice

As part of the special events of the Congress, a new book, “Realizing Africa’s Rice Promise,” jointly published by AfricaRice-CABI, will be released. The book provides a comprehensive overview of Africa’s rice sector and ongoing rice research and development activities, indicating priorities for action on how to realize the rice promise in a sustainable and equitable manner.

24 October 2013.
ROPPA, CRCOPR, Oxfam, Agricord, SNV and VECO sponsored a session on "Increasing synergy between actors in the West African Rice sector and increasing future supplies to cities".

See programme of the conference:
Presentations around innovation and multi stakeholder rice platforms

• A multi-stakeholder network to plan sustainable development of rice in Chad: page 49
• Les plates-formes multi-acteurs, un processus d’apprentissage pour orienter les activités de recherche : cas des bas-fonds du Mali-Sud, page 69
• Innovation systems: Making science work for farmers. Bridging the gap between science and farmers. 
•  (Ton Dufour ICRA) page 85.
• Multi-stakeholder platforms as a process of innovation and learning: An experiment on integral and sustainable farming in inland valleys page 101
• Do current ICTs fill the gender gap in agricultural knowledge transfer? Evidence from five African countries. p. 145
• Effectiveness of an innovation platform in managing rice disease in Togo, p. 160
• Commercialization of the rice value chain by linking smallholders to downstream agri-businesses in Mozambique, p. 175
• Improving rice stakeholders’ ability to articulate agricultural research for-development needs: The Users-Led Process (ULP) of the Platform for African-European Partnerships in Agricultural Research for Development, J. Mugabe (PAEPARD), p.187
• Actors in the rice value chain: from seeds to produce, p.202
• Making science work for farmers: The role of farmer groups, p.204
• Farmer-to-farmer training videos strengthen institutional relationships, p.213 
• Rice value chain analysis: The case of Western Province, Kenya, p.215
• Assessing impact of video and rural radio on building capital assets with smallholder rice processors in Benin among radio stations, extension services and farmers, p.280

Interviews:

Dr Marco Wopereis, Deputy Director General and Director for R&D, AfricaRice, Benin speaks about his expectations for the 3rd Africa Rice Congress, 21-24 October 2013, in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Prof. Eric Tollens, AfricaRice Board Member, and Professor Emeritus of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium speaks about his expectations for the 3rd Africa Rice Congress, 21-24 October 2013, in Yaoundé, Cameroon

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.