As part of its support mission for the formulation of projects with the Adaptation Fund, the Sahara & Sahel Observatory organized a regional remote consultation workshop of the ‘scaling-up climate-resilient rice production in West Africa – RICOWAS’ project full document, to be submitted for the Adaptation Fund financing.
The overall purpose of the national consultation workshop was to collect the expectations & needs of all participants, & to clarify several relevant points allowing to have the discussions’ proposals & recommendations integrated in the project document. Mr. Abdoulaye Hamadoune, Director General of the National Centre of Specialization on Rice & Mr. Nabil Ben Khatra, OSS Executive Secretary, opened the workshop with the presence of the countries’ & the OSS team representatives.
The CNS-RIZ/IER/Mali will coordinate the RICOWAS project, under the supervision of the West & Central African Council for Agricultural Research & Development (CORAF) & under the ECOWAS institutional auspices. The project aims to improve the climate resilience of African rice cultivation in 13 countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone & Togo.
This project, which will affect some 400 townships, is based on improving the rice productivity through an intense rice cultivation system in the different production systems (irrigated, dry, mangrove, etc.), with a view to increasing smallholder farmers’ incomes & livelihoods.