There is no agriculture without scientists. The quest for food sovereignty and a successful agro-industry requires scientific research. West African countries have understood this. West African researchers are in the spotlight at the Paris International Agricultural Show.
Abdourahamane Sangaré heads the National Center for Agronomic Research of Côte d’Ivoire (CNRA), one of the largest laboratories in Africa. With 1,500 people, including 200 senior researchers, the CNRA is the scientific base on which the Ivorian agricultural sectors are based. ” All clones rubber tree which are used today in Côte d’Ivoire come from the National Center for Agricultural Research, explains the director. It’s the same for cocoa, palm, coffee. Everything you find today in terms of industrial culture in Côte d’Ivoire comes from research. »
Seed improvement, pest control, the CNRA has a budget of 15 billion CFA francs per year to improve production and productivity. “ We do research that generally consists of genetic selection, To create competitive varieties that are adapted to our growing conditions, continues Abdourahamane Sangaré. We conduct research on almost everything, with the aim of providing end users with good plant material with the technical itineraries that go with it. »
As with the CNRA, the end users of the Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute (Isra) are the farmers. And in Senegal, two crops dominate the research work, peanuts and rice. For rice, Momar Talla Seck, the director general of Isra, has the task of developing varieties adapted to the Senegalese climate and soil: “ Isra has worked a lot on varietal improvement. Because with all that is climate change, it would be necessary to put in place seeds that go with these changes. And in recent years, Isra has been able to develop more than ten new varieties of rice seeds which are now available to producers. »
Isra is also working to improve the quality of agricultural soils, which are very fragile in Senegal. Their degradation leads to lower yields. ” There is an important project that is called in Wolof “Project Dundül Suuf” to revive the soil, continues Momar Talla Seck. Samples were taken throughout the national territory to see the degree of fertility. And this will allow us in the future to set up new fertilizer formulas to find solutions and have better yields. »
West African researchers do not work in isolation. Thanks to sub-regional organizations such as CORAF, they pool their knowledge and genetic material to move forward more quickly and at lower cost.