NERICA CONSORTIUM

The NERICA Consortium is the implementing body of the African Rice Initiative (ARI) that was launched in March 2002. The Consortium includes the participation of a full range of stakeholders—national agricultural research and extension systems; donors, including UNDP, Japan, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation, the US Agency for International Development (USAID); non-governmental organizations, including Sasakawa Global 2000; farmers’ organizations and the private sector. 

The NERICA Consortium seeks to mobilize political commitment and resources and facilitate operational activities, monitor progress, share information and ensure the participation of all stakeholders. The Consortium intends to push forward with the widespread and rapid dissemination of the NERICA rice varieties to poor farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, leading to increases in their incomes and nutritional needs and to eventually reducing rice imports.