Provide the stakeholders in the West African rice sector with new high-yielding improved seed varieties to achieve rice self-sufficiency by 2020. This is the main objective of the “Project supporting the dissemination of the seed of improved rice varieties in West Africa” that was launched on June 9, 2016 in Ouagadougou.

The two-year pilot phase of this project (June 2016-June 2018) will cover four countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Nigeria. Concretely, the aim of this project is to support seed companies and seed trade organizations in the production of high-yielding foundation and certified rice seeds and to facilitate producer access to these seeds.

This pilot phase with an estimated cost of 1.5 billion CFA francs ($ 3 million) is financed by USAID (US development agency).

The West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) and the West Africa Seed Programme (WASP) are coordinating the project at regional level.

In Burkina Faso, the National Association of Seed Companies in Burkina Faso (ANESBF) and the National Union of Burkina rice producers (UNPRB) are responsible for implementing the project in collaboration with the Africa West Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP)-Burkina.