AfricaRice DG at the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit: Strengthening Agricultural Partnerships.

From June 4 to 5, 2024, AfricaRice Director General and CGIAR Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Dr. Baboucarr Manneh attended the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit held in Ilsan and Seoul (The Republic of Korea). The event was an opportunity to showcase to Heads of States, Heads of Governments and representatives of international organizations, the remarkable work of CGIAR centers toward a food-secure future dedicated to transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis.

Organized under the theme of “The Future We Make Together: Shared Growth, Sustainability, and Solidarity”, this Summit marks a significant step in strengthening the cooperation between Korea and Africa, demonstrating their mutual determination to elevate their partnership, discussing solutions to global challenges, aiming to facilitate sustainable development and deepen their collaborative efforts.

On the sidelines of the summit, Dr. Manneh served as a keynote speaker at the Korea-Africa Agricultural Conference, a side event tailored to discuss pressing issues and potential solutions related to global food security, with a particular focus on the African context. In the presence of Yvonne Pinto, Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and Iljeong Jeong, Minister Counsellor of the Korean Mission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, AfricaRice DG emphasized the importance of the partnership between Korea and CGIAR Centers operating in Africa for an increased impact in the field of agriculture and food security across the continent.

Dr. Manneh also paid a visit to the National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), where, in the presence of Marie-Noelle Ndjiondjop, AfricaRice's Genebank Manager, he gave a presentation highlighting AfricaRice's achievements in genebanking and breeding, especially the breeding results achieved through a partnership with the Korea-Africa Food and Agricultural Cooperation Initiative (KAFACI), and the importance of continued collaboration to support agricultural development in Africa. This long and fruitful collaboration has resulted in the release of some 26 high-yielding, stress-tolerant rice varieties. AfricaRice and its Korean partners aim to strengthen seed systems and improve the distribution of these varieties to farmers.

Prior to attending the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit, AfricaRice DG attended the seed preservation and cryoconservation activities carried out by the Rural Development Administration (RDA) Genebank. The ceremony coincided with the deposit of AfricaRice seeds as a "black box" in the RDA genebank's seed vault for safety duplication.