World Honour for African Rice Expert

The Independent (Banjul)
NEWS
November 1, 2004
Posted to the web November 2, 2004
Banjul

World-famous rice-breeding expert Dr. Monty Jones of Sierra Leone became the
first African in the world to receive the prestigious World Food Prize at
the presentation of the 2004 awards in Des Moines, the capital city of the
US farming state of Iowa, on 15 October 2004.

He received the award for his work on the development of NERICA - New Rice
for Africa - a combination of African and Asian rice varieties, perfectly
adapted for the harsh growing environment and low-input conditions in
sub-Saharan Africa. It is recognised as having immense potential for food
security and poverty alleviation in one of the most impoverished regions in
the world.

NERICA is a technological breakthrough for Africa, by an African who
developed it at an African-led research institute - the Africa Rice Centre
(WARDA), in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

NEPAD has placed agricultural growth as the cornerstone of its poverty
reduction programme and has asked the Forum for Agricultural Research in
Africa (FARA) to be the technical agent for the implementation of the
Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP).

NEPAD has identified NERICA in the context of the CAADP's action plan and
the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Steering Committee has endorsed the
expansion of the NERICA throughout Africa. The award to Dr. Jones has come,
therefore, as a big boost to CAADP.

Research on NERICAs involved national agricultural research programmes in 20
African countries, and advanced research institutions across the world.

Twelve African diplomats based in Washington, D.C., including ambassadors of
Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and representatives
of Angola, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda travelled to
Des Moines to participate in the World Food Prize ceremonies.

In a statement to the World Food Prize Symposium, the ambassadors said.

"Through this award Dr. Jones brings global recognition not only to his own
efforts with the team at the West Africa Rice Development Association
(WARDA), but to the thousands of African scientists who are working hard to
find breakthroughs to end hunger and poverty in Africa." The ambassadors
recognised the assistance provided by the U.S., Europe, China and Japan, the
World Bank and other bilateral and multilateral donors, foundations and
non-governmental organisations that have helped make scientific achievements
such as Dr. Jones possible.

"Dr. Jones' achievements illustrate the great potential of Africa's
agriculture to feed hungry people, but the challenges are great," the
ambassadors noted. "Over 200 million Africans are chronically hungry and
one-half of the population lives off less than $1 per day."

The ambassadors urged the international development community to help
African governments further strengthen "homegrown" scientific capacity to
increase the productivity of Africa's complex farming and pastoral systems.

"We need hundreds more Dr. Monty Joneses to fight African hunger and poverty
using science and technology," they said.

At the 2003 Maputo Summit, African Heads of State pledged to increase their
spending on agriculture to 10% of national budgets. The ambassadors urged
the international community to support these efforts and the agricultural
development priorities articulated under NEPAD's Comprehensive Africa
Agricultural Development Programme.

They specifically called for assistance to:

1.Build strong scientific institutions and human capacity to develop and
disseminate agricultural innovations; 2.Revitalise agricultural education at
all levels with urgent attention to restoring Africa's agricultural
universities, colleges and farmers' training centres, and regional Centres
of Excellence for scientific research;

3.Strengthen transport, communication, agricultural processing and
information technology to lower production and marketing costs, open new
markets and improve the competitiveness of Africa's agricultural products in
local, regional and global markets.

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