The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) is a leading pan-African research organization with a mission to contribute to poverty alleviation and food security in Africa through research, development and partnership activities. It is one of the 15 international agricultural research Centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It is also an autonomous intergovernmental research association of African member countries.

The Center was created in 1971 by 11 African countries. Today its membership comprises 24 countries, covering West, Central, East and North African regions, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Uganda.

Recognizing the strategic importance of rice for Africa and the effective geographic expansion of the Center – which was constituted as the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) in 1971 – its Council of Ministers took a historic decision in September 2009 to officially change its name to “Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice)” and to no longer refer to it as WARDA.

Its mission is to contribute to poverty alleviation and food security in Africa, through research, development and partnership activities aimed at increasing the productivity and profitability of the rice sector in ways that ensure the sustainability of the farming environment.

The modus operandi of the Center is partnership at all levels. Its research and development activities are conducted in collaboration with various stakeholders—primarily the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), academic institutions, advanced research institutions, farmers’ organizations, non-governmental organizations, and donors—for the benefit of African farmers, mostly small-scale producers, as well as the millions of African families for whom rice means food.  

AfricaRice temporary headquarters is based in Cotonou, Benin; research staff are also based in Senegal, Nigeria, Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire.