Who is who in African orphan crops research and development

Who Is Who in African Orphan Crops Research, Information and Development1

Zerihun Tadele

Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013 Bern, Switzerland (Email: zerihun.tadele@ips.unibe.ch)

I. African National Institutes

National institutes in Africa involved in orphan crops research and development include agricultural research institutes, universities and non-governmental organizations. Detailed information of the institutes for each African county is available at FARA website: http://fara.infosysplus.org/

II. Other Institutions Involved in Orphan Crops Research and Development

Name of institute or organization	Role/involvement	Mission/objective	Relevance to African orphan crops	Country or region of activity	Head quarter	URL
AAC	Investment in SME	To improve the livelihoods of small-holder farmers in East Africa	Indirect or general2	East Africa	Kampala, Uganda	http://www.aac.co.ke/web/
AATF	Technology transfer	To access and deliver affordable agricultural technologies for sustainable use by smallholders	Cassava, banana, cowpea	Sub-Saharan Africa	Kenya	http://www.aatf-africa.org/
ABNETA	Discussion platform	To discuss, support, develop or use biotechnology in support of agriculture in Africa	Indirect or general	Africa	Nairobi, Kenya	http://www.abneta.org/
ABSF	Communication, training, development	To create an innovative and enabling biotechnology environment in Africa through Education	Indirect or general	Africa	Kenya	http://www.absfafrica.org/
ABSPII	Promote agricultural biotechnology	To support the development of expertise in the areas of research, policy development, licensing, and outreach	banana	Africa, Asia	Cornell University, Ithaca, USA	http://www.absp2.cornell.edu/
ACIAR	Grant provision	To contribute to the aid program objectives of advancing Australia's national interest through poverty reduction and sustainable development	Indirect or general	Global	Canberra, Australia	http://www.aciar.gov.au/home
ACTS	Knowledge and technology transfer	To strengthen the capacity and policies of African countries and institutions to harness science and technology for sustainable development	Indirect or general	Africa	Nairobi, Kenya	http://www.acts.or.ke/
ADC	Grant provision	To reduce global poverty, ensure peace and human security and preserve the environment in an international framework	Indirect or general	Global	Vienna, Austria	http://www.entwicklung.at/en.html
Africa College	Research & capacity building	To improve the lives of millions who are exposed to food insecurity and suffer malnutrition	Indirect or general	Africa	University of Leeds, UK	http://www.africacollege.leeds.ac.uk/index.php
Africa Harvest	Technology transfer	To harness modern science and technologies to help Africa achieve food security, economic well-being and sustainable development	banana	Africa	Nairobi, Kenya	http://africaharvest.org/site/
Africa Rice Center3	Research & development	to contribute to poverty alleviation and food security in Africa	African rice	Africa	Contonou, Benin	http://www.warda.org/
African Development Bank	Grant provision	to spur sustainable economic development and social progress in its regional member countries, thus contributing to poverty reduction	Indirect or general	Africa	Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire	http://www.afdb.org/
Africancrops.net	Information	to provide service in the areas of crop improvement, seed systems development, access to information and capacity building	African crops	Africa	Nairobi, Kenya	http://www.africancrops.net/index.htm
AfricaNUANCES	research	To increase the understanding of rural livelihoods and their relationships with the food security and sustainability	Indirect or general	East, West & Southern Africa	Wageningen, The Netherlands	http://www.africanuances.nl/
AGRA	Funding for capacity building	To integrate programs in seeds, soils, market access and policy in order to transform subsistence farming into sustainable and viable commercial activity	African crops	Africa	Nairobi, Kenya	http://www.agra-alliance.org/
Agriculture Review	Information	A journal targets agricultural industry in Eastern and Southern Africa	Indirect or general	Africa	Nairobi, Kenya	http://agriculturalreviewonline.com/index.html
AGRINATURA	research, training and capacity building	To contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals	Indirect or general	Global	Prague, Czech & Paris, France	http://www.agrinatura.eu/index.html
Agri-ProFocus	promote farmer entrepreneurship	to provide coherent and demand-driven support to enhance the capacity of producer organizations in developing farmer entrepreneurship within the context of poverty reduction	Indirect or general	Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Uganda & Zambia	Arnhem, The Netherlands	http://www.agri-profocus.nl/
Agriterra	Knowledge or information transfer	to promote economic activities in developing countries	Indirect or general	Global	Arnhem, Netherlands	http://www.agriterra.org/en/index
ASARECA	Strengthen NARS activity	To promote economic growth, fight poverty, reduce hunger and enhance resources through regional collective action in agricultural research for development, extension and agricultural training and education	Staple and non-staple crops4	ECA5 countries	Entebbe, Uganda	http://www.asareca.org/
BeCA Hub	Research, training	To provide a common biosciences research platform, research-related services and capacity building and training opportunities	Indirect or general	East and Central Africa	Nairobi, Kenya,	http://hub.africabiosciences.org/
BIO-EARN	Capacity building	to build capacity in biotechnology in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and promote appropriate research and related policies	Indigenous cereals, sweet potato	East Africa	Kampala, Uganda	http://www.bio-earn.org/index.htm
Bioversity International	Research	To conserve and use of agricultural biodiversity	Banana, plantain	Global	Rome, Italy	http://www.bioversityinternational.org/
BREAD	Grant provision	to include international partners in efforts to generate sustainable, science-based solutions to problems of smallholder agriculture in developing countries	Indirect or general	Global	USA	http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503403&org=NSF&from_org=DBI
BTC	Grant provision	To provides present and future generations with sufficient resources and support the initiatives of our partners to eliminate poverty	Indirect or general	Global	Brussels, Belgium	http://www.btcctb.org/what-btc
CAADP	Trust Fund	to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty through agriculture	Indirect or general	Africa	South Africa	http://www.nepad-caadp.net
CCRP	grants program	To improve food production and nutritional content of crops important to the developing world	Sweet potato, tef, finger millet, Pearl millet, Cowpea, Bambara groundnut	Global	McKnight Foundation, Cornell University, USA	http://mcknight.ccrp.cornell.edu/
CGIAR	Coordinate IARC	To achieve sustainable food security and reduce poverty in developing countries	Several CGIAR centers work on orphan crops	Global	Washington DC, USA	http://www.cgiar.org/
CIAT	Research	To improve crops and soil for the poor	Beans, cassava	Global	Cali, Colombia	www.ciat.cgiar.org
CIDA	Grant provision	to support people living in poverty	Indirect or general	Global	Quebec, Canada	http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/home
CIP	Research	to reduce poverty and achieve food security on a sustained basis in developing countries	Sweet potatoes	Global	Lima, Peru	http://www.cipotato.org/
CIRAD	Research & training	to generate and pass on new knowledge, support agricultural development and fuel the debate on the main global issues concerning agriculture	Banana, plantain, tree crops	Global	Paris & Montpellier, France	http://www.cirad.fr/en
Comparative Genomics	research	To study genetic diversity of orphan crops and transfer molecular technologies into developing world	Tef, finger millet, fox tail	Global	University of Georgia, Athens, USA	http://www.genetics.uga.edu/jlblab/
CORAF/WECARD	Research coordination	to improve, in a sustainable way, agricultural productivity, competitiveness and markets	Staple and non-staple crops	West and Central Africa	Dakar, Senegal	http://www.coraf.org/
Crops for the Future6	Training & policy issues	to promote neglected and underutilized plant species as a contribution to humanity	underutilized crops	Global	Serdang, Malaysia	http://www.cropsforthefuture.org/
CTA	Information & communication	To disseminate knowledge and information	Indirect or general	ACP-EU	Wageningen, Netherlands	http://www.cta.int/
DAAD	Training & capacity building	To assist developing countries in establishing effective universities and advises decision makers on matters of cultural, education and development policy	Train African researchers	Global	Bonn, Germany	http://www.daad.de/en/index.html
DFID	Grant provision	to meet the many challenges of tackling world poverty	Indirect or general	Global	London, UK	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/
FAO	Development, Information systems	to raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, better the lives of rural populations and contribute to the growth of the world economy	Indirect or general	Global	Rome, Italy	http://www.fao.org/
FARA	Agricultural research coordination	To enhance broad-based agricultural productivity, competitiveness and markets sustainably in Africa	Indirect or general	Africa	Accra, Ghana	http://www.fara-africa.org/
Gates Foundation	Grant for research & conservation	to help small farmers flourish on their farms and overcome hunger and poverty	Indirect or general	Global	Seattle, USA	http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx
Gatsby Charitable Foundation	Grant provision	To assist small-scale farmers to improve agricultural productivity and equipping modest enterprises to take the early steps towards industrialization	Indirect or general	UK and Africa	UK	http://www.gatsby.org.uk/index.html
GCP	Research & capacity building	To use genetic diversity and advanced plant science in improving crops for greater food security in the developing world	Tropical legumes7	Global	Mexico	http://www.generationcp.org/index.php
GFAR	Discussion forum	To provide the mechanism and the opportunity that brings together the global agricultural research for development community to work coherently, inclusively and equitably, driven by the needs of the poor	Indirect or general	Global	Rome, Italy	http://www.egfar.org/egfar/website?contentId=-1&
GTZ	capacity development	To promote international cooperation which contributes to sustainable development throughout the world	Indirect or general	Global	Eschborn, Germany	http://www.gtz.de/en/index.htm
HarvestPlus	research	to reduce hidden hunger and provide micronutrients to billions of people directly through the staple foods that they eat	beans, cassava, maize, pearl millet, rice, sweet potato	Global	Washington DC, USA	http://www.harvestplus.org/
IAASTD	Information provision	to asses the impacts of past, present and future agricultural knowledge, science and technology on the reduction hunger and poverty, improvement of rural livelihoods and human health, and equitable, socially, environmentally and economically sustainable development	Indirect or general	Global	Washington DC, USA	http://www.agassessment.org/
ICARDA	Research and training	to improve the welfare of poor people and alleviate poverty in dry areas of the developing world	lentil, barley and faba bean	Global	Aleppo, Syria	http://www.icarda.org/
ICRA	capacity building	stimulates innovation by strengthening the abilities of people and organizations in the rural sector, research and education to collaborate and learn from each other	Indirect or general	Africa & Latin America	Wageningen, Netherlands	http://www.icra-edu.org/page.cfm?pageid=ardhome&loginas=anon_e
ICRISAT	Research	to help poor people to overcome hunger, poverty and a degraded environment in the dry tropics through better agriculture	Pearl millet, Pigeonpea, chickpea, small millets8	Global	Patancheru, India	http://www.icrisat.org/index.htm
IDSA	training	to provide a service to scholarship seekers and scholarship providers.	Unspecific	Global	Pisa, Italy	http://www.scholarshipnet.info/
IFAD	funding	To ensure that poor rural people have better access to, and the skills and organization they need	Indirect or general	Global		http://www.ifad.org/
IFPRI	Policy research	to provide policy solutions that reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition	Indirect or general	Global	Washington, D.C., USA	http://www.ifpri.org/
IITA	Research & capacity building	to enhance food security and improve livelihoods in Africa through research-for-development	Cassava, yam, cowpea, banana, plantain	Global	Ibadan, Nigeria	http://www.iita.org/
INRA	Research & training	To carry-out mission-oriented research for high-quality and healthy foods, competitive and sustainable agriculture and a preserved and valorised environment	Indirect or general	Global	Paris, France	http://www.international.inra.fr/
IPBO	Training & research	to promote sustainable socio-economic development in developing and emerging economies	Banana, cassava, grass pea, sweet potato	Global	Gent University, Belgium	http://www.ugent.be/we/genetics/ipbo/en
IPK	Germplasm provision	Management, analysis and evolution of plant genetic resources	Many crops	Global	Gatersleben,Germany	http://www.ipk-gatersleben.de/Internet
IPS	Research & technology transfer	To implement modern improvement techniques to the under-researched crops of Africa	tef	Africa	University of Bern, Switzerland	http://www.botany.unibe.ch/deve/research/projects/tefbiotech/index.htm
ISAAA AfriCenter	Development, & information provision	To contribute to poverty alleviation by increasing crop productivity and income generation, particularly for resource - challenged farmers in Africa, and to bring about a safer environment and more sustainable agriculture development	banana	Africa	Nairobi, Kenya	http://africenter.isaaa.org/Default.aspx
JICA	Grant provision	To reduce poverty through equitable growth, improve governance and achieve human security	Indirect or general	Global	Tokyo, Japan	http://www.jica.go.jp/english/
Joint FAO/IAEA Programme	Training, research & service provision	To assist the use nuclear techniques and related biotechnologies for developing improved strategies for sustainable food security	Indirect or general	Global	Vienna, Austria	http://www-naweb.iaea.org/nafa/index.html
KFPE	Grant provision	To promote research partnerships with developing and transition countries	Indirect or general	Global	Bern, Switzerland	http://www.kfpe.ch/
Kirkhouse Trust	Grant provision	To improve crop research for the developing world	Cowpea and common bean	West & East Africa	Oxfordshire, UK	http://www.kirkhousetrust.org/
Laboratory of Tropical Crop Improvement	Research and training	To improve the livelihood of subsistence farmers in the tropics through sustainable agriculture	Banana and plantain	Global	K.U.Leuven, Belgium	http://www.biw.kuleuven.be/DTP/TRO/_data/home.htm
MDG	Grant provision, development		Indirect or general	Global	New York, USA	http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/index.shtml
NEPAD		to eradicate poverty, to place African countries on a path of sustainable growth and development, etc	Indirect or general	Africa	Johannesburg, South Africa	http://www.nepad.org/home/lang/en
New Agriculturist	Information provision		Indirect or general	Global	UK	http://www.new-ag.info/index.php
NewCROP	Information provision	To provide information on New Crops and Plant Products	Indirect or general	Global	Purdue University, USA	http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/default.html
Noragric	Grant provision	To generate and exchange knowledge and provide education in the area of agricultural development, livelihood security and natural resource management	Indirect or general	Global	Ås, Norway	http://www.umb.no/noragric/article/institutional-cooperation-2
North-South Centre ETH	Research & capacity development	To promote research collaboration and capacity development in international development and cooperation covering the technical, natural, human and social sciences	Indirect or general	Global	Zurich, Switzerland	http://www.northsouth.ethz.ch/
PAEPARD II	knowledge sharing	To build joint African-European multi-stakeholder partnerships in agricultural research for development	Indirect or general	Global	Brussels, Belgium	http://paepard.blogspot.com/2010/02/first-paepard-ii-consortium-meeting.html
PGML	research		millet	global	University of Georgia, Athens, USA	http://www.plantgenome.uga.edu/
Rockefeller Foundation	Grant provision	To achieve the well-being of humanity through smart globalization	Indirect or general	Global	New York, USA	http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/
Royal Tropical Institute	Research & training	to improve the livelihoods of vulnerable producers in developing countries10	Indirect or general	Global	Amsterdam, Netherlands	http://www.kit.nl/
SADC	Policy & development	To promote sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development that will ensure poverty alleviation	Indirect or general	Southern Africa	Gaborone, Botswana	http://www.sadc.int/
SciDev.Net	Information provision	to achieve better-informed decisions by individuals and organizations in the developing world on science- and technology-related issues	Indirect or general	Global	London, UK	http://www.scidev.net/en/
SDC	Grant provision	To support farmers in the areas of production, marketing and sustainable use of resources in order to substantially contribute to poverty reduction11	Indirect or general	Global	Bern, Switzerland	http://www.sdc.admin.ch/
SFSA	Grant provision	To create value for resource-poor small farmers in developing countries through innovation in sustainable agriculture and the activation of value chains	Millet, tef	global	Basel, Switzerland	http://www.syngentafoundation.org/index.cfm?pageID=2
SIDA	Grant provision	to contribute towards improving the living conditions of the poor people	Indirect or general	Global	Sweden	http://www.sida.se/English/
SNSF	Grant provision	to support high-quality research projects concerning problems relevant to disadvantaged countries12	Indirect or general	Global	Bern, Switzerland	http://www.snf.ch/E/Pages/default.aspx
SNV	Grant provision	to alleviate poverty by focusing on increasing people’s income and employment opportunities in specific productive sectors, as well as improving their access to basic services including water and sanitation, education and renewable energy	Indirect or general	Global	The Hague, Netherlands	http://www.snvworld.org/en/Pages/default.aspx
TCRU	research	To develop genetically improved bambara groundnut	Bambara groundnut	Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland	University of Nottingham, UK	http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/tcru/
USAID	Grant provision	To support long-term and equitable economic growth	Indirect or general	global	Washington D.C., USA	http://www.usaid.gov/index.html
USDA-ARS	Germplasm provision	To provide germplasm to breeders throughout the world	Seeds of many orphan crops13	global	Washington, D.C., USA	http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome
World Bank	Grant provision	to fight poverty for lasting results and to help people help themselves and their environment by providing resources, sharing knowledge, building capacity and forging partnerships in the public and private sectors	Indirect or general	global	Washington, D.C., USA	http://www.worldbank.org/
ZEF	Research, training & capacity building	To find solutions to development-related issues	Coffee, biodiversity	Global	Bonn, Germany	http://www.zef.de/1558.html

Abbreviations and Acronyms used

AACAfrican Agricultural Capital

ABNETAAgricultural Biotechnology Network in Africa

ABSFAfrica Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum

ABSPIIAgricultural Biotechnology Support Project II

ACIARAustralian Centre for International Agricultural Research

ACP-EUAfrican, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) and European Union (EU)

ACTSAfrican Centre for Technology Studies

ADBAfrican Development Bank

ADCAustrian Development Cooperation

AGRAAlliance for a Green Revolution in Africa

ASARECAAssociation for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa

BAMLINKMolecular, Environmental and Nutritional Evaluation of Bambara Groundnut for Food Production in Semi-Arid Africa and India

BecABiosciences eastern and central Africa. Countries included are, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda.

BREADBasic Research to Enable Agricultural Development

BTCBelgian development agency

CAADPComprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. It is the agricultural programme of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), which in turn is a programme of the African Union (AU).

CCRPCollaborative Crop Research Program funded by the McKnight Foundation

CGIARConsultative Group on International Agricultural Research

CIATInternational Center for Tropical Agriculture (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical)

CIDACanadian International Development Agency

CIPInternational Potato Center (Centro Internacional de la Papa)

CIRADAgricultural Research Centre for International Development (Centre de Cooperation Internationale en recherche agromique pour le development, France)

CORAF/WECARDWest and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development.

CTATechnical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation

DAADGerman Academic Exchange Service (Der Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst)

DFIDDepartment for International Development

ECAEastern and Central African countries including Burundi, D. R. Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda

FAOFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FARAForum for Agricultural Research in Africa

GCPGeneration Challenge Programme

GFARGlobal Forum on Agricultural Research

GFUGlobal Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species

GTZDeutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit, Germany

IAASTDInternational Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development

IAEAInternational Atomic Energy Agency

IARCsInternational agricultural research centers

ICARDAInternational Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas

ICRAInternational Centre for development oriented Research in Agriculture, is an independent non-profit foundation, supported by the governments of France (MAE), the Netherlands (LNV), Switzerland (SDC) and the United Kingdom (DFID).

ICRISATInternational Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics

ICUCInternational Centre for Underutilised Crops

IDSAInternational Doctoral Scholarships in Agrobiodiversity

IFADInternational Fund for Agricultural Development

IFPRIInternational Food Policy Research Institute

IITAInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture

INRA the French National Institute for Agricultural Research

IPBOInstitute of Plant Biotechnology for developing Countries

IPKInstitute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Germany

IPSInstitute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland

IRDFrench public research institute working for the development of Southern countries, reporting to the Ministries responsible for research and overseas development.

ISAAAInternational Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA)

JICAJapan International Cooperation Agency

KFPECommission for Research Partnership with Developing Countries

MDGMillennium Development Goals

NEPADNew Partnership for Africa's Development

NewCROPCenter for New Crops & Plant Products, Purdue University, USA

NUANCESNutrient Use in Animal and Cropping Systems: Efficiencies and Scales

PAEPARDPlatform for African–European Partnerships on Agricultural Research for Development

PGMLPlant Genome Mapping Laboratory

SADCSouthern African Development Community including Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe

SciDev.NetScience and Development Network

SDCSwiss Development Cooperation

SFSASyngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture

SIDASwedish International Development Cooperation Agency

SMESmall and medium size enterprise

SNSFSwiss National Science Foundation

SNVInternational development organization of Dutch

TCRUTropical Crops Research Unit at University of Nottingham, UK

USAIDUnited States Agency for International Development

USDA-ARSUnited States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service

WARDAWest Africa Rice Development Association (also known as Africa Research Center)

ZEFCenter for Development Research (Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung)

1 I apologize for not presenting the complete list of institutes involved in African orphan crops research or development mainly due to lack of information.

2 Indirect or general role refers to the condition where by the institute is not focusing on a single or group of orphan crops but contributes indirectly through grant provision, capacity building or information provision for African researchers or institutes who are directly or indirectly involved in orphan crops research and development.

3 Also known as WARDA (West Africa Rice Development Association).

4 Staple crops are sweet potato, cassava, millet, banana; while non-staple crops include beans and coffee.

5 ECA (Eastern and Central African) countries are Burundi, D. R. Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

6 Crops for the Future was formed in 2009 from a merger of the International Centre for Underutilized Crops (ICUC) and the Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species (GFU).

7 Tropical legumes include chick pea, cowpea, beans and groundnut

8 Small millets include Finger Millet, Foxtail millet, Kodo millet, Little millet, Proso millet and Barnyard millet.

9 It is one of the eight goals of MDG (Millennium Development Goals).

10 This is one of the three objectives of the institute that is relevant to agriculture and orphan crops.

11 This is one of the objectives of the organization.

12 This objective is set for the programme known as ‘Research Partnerships with Developing Countries’.

13 Seeds of many orphan crops are provided to breeders throughout the world. Regarding the orphan crops, the organization has 373 accessions of tef , 7883 accessions of millets, and 3849 accessions of cowpea.