CORAF27 January 2020 /
To What Extent was WAAPP Climate-Smart?
Projects implemented under the West Africa Agriculture Productivity Program (WAAPP) in Benin, Guinea, Niger, Togo, and Chad mainstreamed climate-smart agriculture dimensions at differentiated levels, an assessment has concluded. The participatory assessment was conducted by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).
CORAF15 November 2019 /
One of West Africa’s largest agricultural projects in modern history is about to enter the final lap. Touted by initiators as a novelty and the first-of-its-kind in the history of the region, the West Africa Agriculture Productivity Program (WAAPP) officially ends on December 31, 2019. But before that, countries will meet one more time to assess the progress made in the implementation of the ongoing phase, pay tribute to one of the program’s architects and determine how best to build on the infrastructure put in place by the WAAPP.
CORAF28 March 2019 /
How to Produce More While Safeguarding Ecosystems?
West and Central African governments face sizable challenges to not only grow enough food to feed its swelling population but to also do so in a way that prevents harm to the environment. With other regions of the world experiencing increase food production while conserving the ecosystem, experts in West Africa are starting to mull over trying farming models that tackle the adverse effects of climate change to smallholder farmers and natural resource degradation. This model of farming is called conservation agriculture. Not only does it maintain permanent soil cover it also ensures minimum soil disturbance.
CORAF28 March 2019 /
CORAF and FAO Team up to Tackle the Challenges of the Sahel
Two of West Africa’s agriculture research and development partners are examining the possibilities of strengthening their collaboration to tackle some of the Sahel’s most intractable challenges. Meeting in Dakar, Senegal, on Friday, March 8, 2019, senior officials of Sub-Regional Office for West Africa of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and those of the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Research and Development, concluded that the challenges of land degradation, droughts, and migration are solvable from a research and innovation perspective.
CORAF28 March 2019 /
Women Lead the Way in Technology Adoption
As the international community celebrates women, data from Africa’s largest sub-regional research organization shows an impressive adoption rate of technologies by women. Out of about nine million direct beneficiaries of the Agricultural Productivity Program in West Africa (WAAPP), close to 4.5 million were women, representing about 49 percent. Overall, the WAAPP benefitted about 56 million people indirectly and trained a new generation of agricultural scientists. Three of every ten researchers trained by thirteen West African countries involved in the WAAPP in the past ten years were women.
CORAF24 October 2017 /
Strengthening the Results of CORAF Projects
Results specialists working on two critical agricultural productivity projects in West Africa met recently in the Ghanian city of Kumasi to develop a shared understanding of the monitoring and evaluation procedure and to improve the data collection component of their interventions better. The close to forty national coordinators and monitoring and evaluation experts are involved in two ongoing projects of the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF).
CORAF16 October 2017 /
Women Shine in Technology Adoption
More women accessed, adopted and used innovative technologies to improve agriculture productivity in West Africa during the period 2013-2016 than expected, according to the completion report of the just ended Multi-Donor Trust Fund Project (MDTF) of the Central and West Africa Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF).
CORAF04 December 2016 /
Nigeria hosted the second wrap-up meeting of support missions and the 9th Regional Steering Committee (RSC) respectively from 14-18 and 21-22 November, 2016 in Abuja. This was the opportunity to review progress made so far and prospects. Key partners from the international research centers (CGIAR), including the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and from the International Maize and Improvement Center CIMMYT were also convened.
CORAF08 November 2016 /
Members of the ECOWAS parliament call for the inclusion of Guinea-Bissau in WAAPP.
Gathered at the first meeting relocated to the Fourth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament from 1 to 5 November 2016, in Dakar, Senegal, the Joint Commission of the Parliament of the Economic Community called for the immediate integration of Guinea Bissau in the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP). A program placed under the financial facilitation of the World Bank and coordinated at the regional level by the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD).
CORAF28 October 2016 /
USAID, West Africa Mission on behalf of the Technical and Financial Partner Group of the ECOWAS Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, convened key regional partners and stakeholders for a focused technical round-table discussion on next generation and priorities of the region for inputs, fertilizer, agricultural technology and seed programs in the light of the new ECOWAS Regional Agriculture Investment Plan that is being finalized. CORAF/WECARD hosted this meeting at Dakar on October 19th, 2016.
CORAF30 September 2016 /
For better communication on innovative agricultural technologies and take-up of agricultural information by media, CORAF/WECARD, has strengthened the capacity of the national unit of Côte d'Ivoire coordinated by the Interprofessional Fund for Agricultural Research and Advisory Services (FIRCA) from 12 to 18 September in Yamoussoukro, 245 km from the capital Abidjan.
CORAF29 September 2016 /
Jim Yong Kim Unanimously Reappointed to Second Term as World Bank Group President
Executive Directors of the World Bank agreed unanimously on September 27, 2016 to reappoint Dr. Jim Yong Kim to a second five-year term as President of the World Bank Group, beginning July 1, 2017. Executive Directors cited the achievements of Bank Group staff and management during Dr. Kim’s first four years in office, and recognized his leadership and vision. Chairs acknowledged several accomplishments the institution has achieved during this time with strong Board support.
CORAF29 September 2016 /
CORAF/WECARD received an expert mission of the Regional Irrigation Initiative Support Project in the Sahel PARIIS-SIIP in order to pool efforts in irrigation techniques for optimizing agricultural productivity in West Africa and the Sahel. The mission led by the Regional Project Coordinator Mr. Clement OUEDRAOGO, met the WAAPP / PPAAO team from 24 to 26 August 2016, in Dakar, Senegal.
CORAF23 August 2016 /
CORAF/WECARD explores areas with IITA of joint actions on technologies upscaling
The West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) wants to leverage the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) model on research for development (R4D) for the up scaling of its agricultural technologies. Dr Abdou TENKOUANO, the Executive Director calls for closer ties to benefit National Centers of Specialization (NCoS) under the auspices of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) through capacity building programs and experience sharing during his official visit to IITA-Ibadan on 10 August, 2016.
CORAF13 August 2016 /
PRAPS learning from WAAPP: A mission of experts at CORAF/WECARD
The Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) was at CORAF/WECARD to learn from the success story of WAAPP/PPAAO from 8 to 12 August 2016. The visit, part of the Regional Sahel Pastoralism Support Project (PRAPS) aims to learn from WAAPP best practices in communication and monitoring and evaluation.
CORAF03 August 2016 /
CORAF/WECARD supports Mali to improve its data collection on WAAPP's impact
From 26 to 29 July 2016 CORAF/WECARD has facilitated the training workshop for heads of monitoring and evaluation units of WAAPP / PPAAO Mali in monitoring and evaluation / results-based management in Banankoro, 20 km from Bamako. The workshop brought together 20 researchers from WAAPP Mali implementing agencies and was facilitated by Patrice Leumeni, M&E Regional Offiicer of WAAPP based at CORAF/WECARD.
CORAF01 August 2016 /
5,000 Smallholder Farmers from Cameroun, Burkina Faso and Ghana are returning to their roots through the integration of traditional vegetables to their daily diet as a sustainable way to improve their nutritional health while increasing their income. These significant results are achieved through the ‘Enhancing Productivity, Competitiveness and Marketing of Traditional African (Leafy) Vegetables for Improved Income and Nutrition in West and Central Africa” project funded by CORAF/WECARD.
CORAF01 July 2016 /
The West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) with support of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has officially launched the project on "Empowering Youths for Agripreneurship in West Africa" on June 23, 2016 in Dakar Senegal. This project aims to create entrepreneurial opportunities for 1,000 youths in agriculture to contribute to the sustainable improvement of productivity, competitiveness and agricultural systems markets in the sub-region.
CORAF27 June 2016 /
The West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) has been distinguished as the second best project in Africa as part of the 2016 World Bank's Africa region vice-presidential unit (VPU) team award. WAAPP is recognized for its outstanding contribution to the valorization of the West Africa’s food system, to innovate, create, disseminate and adopt improved technologies as well as the creation of favorable conditions for regional cooperation in 13 recipient countries.
CORAF15 June 2016 /
World Bank-AMI: Enhancing media coverage for agricultural growth
A capacity-building workshop to strengthen ‘reporting and coverage of agriculture and food security sectors in sub-Saharan Africa’ – organized by the African Media Initiative ((AMI) with funding support from the World Bank Group – is currently underway in Abidjan, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. The three-day workshop, holding from June 13 to 15 at the World Bank’s Abidjan office, has brought together 50 journalists from across the continent (40 from West Africa and 10 from the other regions) to build their capacity around agricultural issues, to initiate dialogue on the problems affecting the sector, and to encourage the media to prioritize and play a critical role towards the growth of the sector in their respective regions and countries.
CORAF15 June 2016 /
Based on the positive impact of regional projects coordinated by CORAF / WECARD within the framework of the agricultural policy of ECOWAS, the institution is called upon to support countries in the sub-region in the formulation of the 2nd generation of the agricultural investment programs at both national (NAIP) and regional level (RAIP). As a regional cooperation organization and technical arm of ECOWAS, CORAF / WECARD will provide expertise throughout the process in areas relating to the strengthening of innovation and research coordination capacity, technology dissemination and knowledge sharing, seed policy and marketing as well as biotechnology and biosafety. In order to better respond to emerging challenges such as nutrition dimension, the resilience of vulnerable populations, gender, climate change and research results outputs.
CORAF14 June 2016 /
WAAPP: Harnessing the potential of com4dev to maximize impact of agricultural technologies
To reduce the information gap between farmers and researchers on improved technologies that can effectively contribute to the achievement of a 6% agricultural growth in the sub-region, the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) is revitalizing its communication strategy by harnessing the potential of communication for Development (Com4dev). For effective implementation, CORAF/WECARD partnered with the FAO and the World Bank has built the capacity of the Communication specialists from the 13 WAAPP recipient countries to infuse new skills and knowledge in using the right medium and tools to meet information needs of primary stakeholders.
CORAF01 June 2016 /
Partnership agreement: a research system "IAVAO" to boost agricultural production in West Africa
"Gathering a community of researchers and research professors from various countries in West Africa and France to conduct, in partnership, research, teaching, training on specific topics ...", this the goal of the Centre for international cooperation in agronomic research for development (CIRAD), CORAF, and 7 research institutions (ISRA of Senegal, IER of Mali, INERA of Burkina Faso, INRAN of Niger, Montpellier SupAgro in France and University of Thies) through the creation of a research system and education in partnership (DP).
CORAF23 May 2016 /
As youth involvement and empowerment in gainful and attractive agribusiness is one the key priority of its Second Operational Plan, the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) has participated to the 2nd annual West Africa Regional Conference of the Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF), the flagship program of President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), from May 19-21, 2016 in Accra-Ghana. CORAF/WECARD seized the opportunity to present its major achievements regarding the development of viable mechanisms/models on putting research into use for the benefit of young agripreneurs in West and Central Africa.
CORAF08 May 2016 /
AGRICORA: Integrating Tools and Research outputs to climate change mitigation
Using appropriate tools and knowledge deriving from scientific research for the benefit of the West African agriculture in order to build farmers' resilience to climate change, it is the ambition of the Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP) AGRICORA, a program of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International development coordinated by the Institute of research for development (IRD).
CORAF26 April 2016 /
Reaching sustainable food security is one of the key challenge of the West African sub-region. Ten years after the implementation of the Agricultural Policy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAP), some regional initiatives are making tremendous progress. Among these, the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) ...
CORAF05 April 2016 /
“Demand for meat production in 2013 amounted to 3.2 million tons and that of milk to 5.0 million tons. These demands are not effectively met and the region is still depending on importations. As a solution, harnessing animal biodiversity by the use of animal genetic resources can be a sustainable way to increase agricultural productivity and enhance food and nutrition security of populations in the sub-region”.
CORAF14 March 2016 /
CORAF/WECARD urges decision makers to own the governance of Regional Centres of Excellence
The West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) organized a Consultation Workshop of decision-makers and heads of National Institutions members of the National Centers of Specialization (NCoS) in West Africa from 14th-15th March 2016 in Abuja, Nigeria. The aim of the workshop was to elicit the ownership of the NCoS-RCoE process by decision makers and heads of hosting institutions in terms of institutional arrangements and governance.
CORAF01 March 2016 /
Improving Data collection: WAAPP trains 16 M&E focal points of Commissioned and Competitive projects
As the quality of data reporting and indicators is very key for monitoring and evaluation of commissioned and competitive projects funded under the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), the regional coordination held a training workshop for 16 M&E focal points from February 22 to 26, 2016 in Accra, Ghana. The workshop sought to strengthen the capacity of the project team in reporting and monitoring of performance and ensure that the current implementation of the projects in each country.
CORAF16 February 2016 /
In 2015, it was celebrated the 10 years of the ECOWAS Agricultural Policy. As the technical arm of ECOWAS, CORAF/WECARD is coordinating the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) which aims to generate and accelerate the adoption of improved technologies in key priority areas of agricultural sectors. In this interview, Dr Paco SEREME, Executive Director of CORAF / WECARD highlights the contribution of the institution to the ECOWAP for the transformation of agriculture in West Africa.
CORAF16 February 2016 /
Significant results after 07 years: WAAPP has generated over 160 technologies that transcend borders
Since its inception in 2008, the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) has suppor-ted not only the generation of 159 agricultural technologies and innovations but also successfully met the challenge of their wide dissemination throughout the13 countries of intervention of the project.
CORAF12 October 2015 /
West Africa Fair of Agricultural and innovations Technologies: A big success for CORAF / WECARD
The West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF / WECARD) organized the West Africa Fair of Agricultural and innovations Technologies from 17 to 19 November, 2015, in Dakar, Senegal. This Fair was attended by 12 of the 13 project countries of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) and about 10 Technical and Financial Partners' organizations. All the 159 technologies generated by the program were presented to decision makers and more than a thousand visitors. A real success for CORAF / WECARD in terms of visibility.
CORAF30 April 2015 /
CORAF / WECARD rewards the 04 best innovation platforms in West Africa
CORAF / WECARD has rewarded the 04 best innovation platforms from Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger and Senegal during the wrap-up of the International Conference on agriculture in West Africa on 19 November, 2015. This is for CORAF / WECARD the opportunity to promote successful experiences and lessons learned from the implementation of the innovation platform approach for the sustainable improvement of the agricultural system productivity, competitiveness and markets in West Africa.
