IRRI Thursday, October 20, 2016

Figure: The agreement was signed by Corinta Guerta, IRRI director for External Relations, and Dr. Sailila Abdula, PhilRice executive director, in the presence of Susumu Ito, JICA’s chief representative at the Philippine Office.

MANILA, Philippines—Increases in rice consumption in Africa have outpaced the continent’s rice production, according to Jason Beebout, the leader of a capacity-building project for Africa being supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). “This is why there is a need for training programs aimed at increasing rice production beginning with the seed sector,” he said.

JICA, PhilRice, and IRRI have joined forces to help several African countries develop their respective rice seed sector. The three organizations formalized this partnership during a brief ceremony for the signing of the agreement at the JICA Philippine Office on 18 October.

In the agreement, which is part of the Extension for Capacity Development for Rice Food Security in Africa, IRRI is partnering with PhilRice in training the next generation of seed production professionals from member countries of the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD). In 2017, two 8-week training courses on rice seed production and extension will be conducted by PhilRice for selected participants from CARD countries. The overall extension capacity project started in March and will continue until 2019.

See more: http://news.irri.org/2016/10/jica-philrice-and-irri-team-up-to.html