The Africa Rice Center (WARDA)’s 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.
The Center hosts the African Rice Initiative (ARI), the Regional Rice Research and Development Network for West and Central Africa (ROCARIZ), and the Inland Valley Consortium (IVC). It also supports the Coordination Unit of the Eastern and Central African Rice Research Network (ECARRN), based in Tanzania.
Since January 2005, the Center has been working from Cotonou, Benin, having relocated from its headquarters in Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire, because of the civil conflicts in the country. It has regional research stations near St Louis, Senegal and at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria.