AGRA Delegation Attends Annual CGIAR Meeting in Maputo

CGIAR Annual General Meeting

An AGRA delegation led by Dr Namanga Ngongi, President, attended the annual meeting of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) at Maputo, Mozambique, during the first week of December. Dr Ngongi received His Excellency Armando Emillio Guebuza, President of Mozambique, as well as His Excellency Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria, at AGRA’s exhibition booth during the meeting.

In his presentation at the plenary, Dr Ngongi pointed out the existing collaboration and complementary roles between AGRA and the CG centers, especially in plant breeding at African national research institutions.

Visiting the Sweet potato project

The AGRA team visited Dr Maria Andrade, a senior plant breeder with the International Potato Center (CIP) at Umbeluzi Research Station of IIAM, the Institutu de Investigacão Agária de Mocambique.  Dr Andrade, whose work is supported by AGRA, led the team on a field tour of her team’s sweet potato project. This project is at present the only CGIAR work funded directly by AGRA. Dr Andrade’s team’s success was formally recognised at the meeting with a scientific excellence award for a paper about the AGRA-supported work.

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About the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
AGRA is a dynamic partnership working across the African continent to help millions of small-scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger. AGRA programmes develop practical solutions to significantly boost farm productivity and incomes for the poor while safeguarding the environment. AGRA advocates for policies that support its work across all key aspects of the African agricultural value chain ­from seeds, soil health and water to markets and agricultural education.

AGRA's Board of Directors is chaired by Kofi A Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations. Dr Namanga Ngongi, former Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme, is AGRA's president. With support from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK's Department for International Development and other donors, AGRA works across sub-Saharan Africa and maintains offices in Nairobi, Kenya, and Accra, Ghana.