The African Development Bank and researchers have unveiled a $63.24m AfDB-funded initiative aims to raise agricultural productivity and also lift millions of Africans out of poverty.
A statement made available to our correspondent on Friday said the five-year, multi-CGIAR centre initiative known as "Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa", was a research, science, and technology development idea aimed at enhancing the productivity and income derived from cassava, maize, rice, and wheat.
These are four of the six commodities defined as strategic crops for Africa.
During the inauguration of the initiative in Ibadan, the Director-General, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Dr Nteranya Sanginga, called on researchers to deliver 'quick impact' to justify the investments in research.
"We should begin to demonstrate impact in the next two years using available technologies already developed. Everything in SARD-SC is about impact and not only writing scientific papers," Sanginga said.
The SARD-SC project comes at a time when food security and nutrition are high on the national agenda of the AfDB regional member countries, as rising food prices push millions of people into extreme hunger and poverty.
