West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD)
The Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la Recherche et le Développement Agricoles / West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) represents a large region in West and Central African united in a common goal: to reduce poverty and increase food security by 2015. By strengthening the agricultural research base in the sub-regions, CORAF aims to boost economic growth through improvements in agricultural productivity, sustainability and the promotion of the agribusiness sector.
Its research agenda includes food and farming systems, natural resource management, markets and trade, and biotechnology; their focus group includes small-scale producers and end-users. CORAF is a member of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa.
CORAF member countries include Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Rep., Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Congo, Dem. Rep., Congo, Rep., Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Chad and Togo.
Vision
From now to 2015, the CORAF/WECARD’s vision is; to contribute to sustainable reduction of poverty and food insecurity in West and Central Africa. This will be achieved through agricultural led economic growth, and improving agricultural research system of the sub-region.
Mission
The mission is underlined by the determination to meet the socioeconomic needs of the population in the sub-region. This is why CORAF/WECARD’s concern is to improve, in a sustainable way, agricultural productivity, competitiviness and markets.
Objective
The general objective of CORAF/WECARD is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of small-scale producers and promote the agribusiness sector. For that reason, it puts the producers and end-users at the centre of research.
Regional initiatives
CORAF/WECARD participates in several other initiatives and projects with its partners, including those resulting from Forum for Agricultural research in Africa (FARA) networking:
- Agricultural Research Innovation System for the Development of the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme in (SSA CP)
- Building the capacities of National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) in sub-Saharan Africa (SCARDA and BASIC)
- Dissemination of New Agricultural Technologies in Africa (DONATA)
- Regional Agricultural Information and Learning System (RAILS).
Website: http://www.coraf.org/
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