|
Moments of glory for WARDA
 I would like to share with you some of the memorable events that took place recently, which revealed at regional and global fora that donors’ investment and faith in WARDA have paid rich dividends.
The last few months were indeed a period of glory for WARDA that culminated with a shower of tributes from regional and world leaders at the 24th Session of the WARDA Council of Ministers and at the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD III) in September 2003.
One of the key events of this period was the Rice Policy Workshop, held in August 2003, Nigeria, during which WARDA policy economists and their partners — as part of a USAID-funded project to revitalize the Nigerian rice sector — recommended a comprehensive strategy for the promotion of local rice. The project recommendations were later presented to the Nigerian Minister of Agriculture and will also feed into the Presidential Committee on Increased Rice Production and Export in Nigeria established by President Obasanjo in 2002.
Another significant development recently has been the series of high-level meetings on coordinated NERICA dissemination, jointly organized by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the World Bank and Japan. The second meeting was held on 12 September 2003 in Tokyo and inputs from the African Rice Initiative Steering Committee Meeting (8-9 September 2003) contributed to the productive discussion.
In conclusion, I would like to highlight that there cannot be better testimonials for WARDA’s achievements in research management and impact than the pronouncements made at the 24th Session of the WARDA Council of Ministers, 18-19 September 2003, in Benin and at the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD III), 29 September-1 October 2003, in Japan. I invite you to read the reports of both these events in this issue.
Kanayo F. Nwanze
Director General
|
