AfricaRice trains 26 seed experts from 13 West African countries
The five-day course in Saint-Louis, Senegal, under the AfDB-funded REWARD project, aims to get better rice seed to farmers and close the yield gap.
Saint-Louis — AfricaRice has trained 26 trainers from 13 West African countries in producing quality rice seed, at a five-day workshop that ended on Friday, 23 October, in Saint-Louis, Senegal, APS reports.
The course is part of the REWARD project, funded by the African Development Bank. To give it a practical edge, AfricaRice brought in private seed companies from the 13 partner countries.
Why seed matters
Project coordinator Dr Edgar Valentin Stanislas Traoré said the participants now master the fundamentals of the rice seed chain. He noted that the region has plenty of farmland, but farmers' yields are far below what research varieties can deliver; good seed is one of the quickest ways to close that gap and cut West Africa's reliance on imported rice.
Bou Moussa, production manager at Baloko Agro-Industrie in Burkina Faso, said the training strengthens the technical and operational capacity of seed companies.
Source: APS, 23 October 2026.
