EBCA aims to enhance plant breeding capacity in Africa

Our vision is to see local farmers have access to more and better varieties, and thus contribute to food security and poverty alleviation through increased yields and household income.

EBCA in few words

IFAD has allocated funds to the Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP) and AfricaRice, spanning three years (2019-2021), for the demand-driven crop improvement of groundnut and rice in Ghana, Senega​​​l, and Uganda. The project aims to strengthen the breeding capacity of partners within their national agricultural plans. They will be developing and disseminating improved crop cultivars that have characteristics that meet farmer and consumer demand, and that can help mitigate agro-ecological challenges, including biotic and abiotic stresses. Ultimately, this will lead to the adoption of ‘fit-for-purpose’ varieties, increasing small-holder productivity and income in the 3 target countries. The project expects to benefit 10,000/country smallholder farmers directly (in total 30,000 over the three countries); with stakeholders working across the crop value chain as attendant beneficiaries (seed dealers, distributors and producers).

Learn more about EBCA

EBCA in numbers - project impact

Project partners

• Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice)  www.AfricaRice.org
• Centre d’Étude Régional pour l’Amélioration de l’Adaptation à la Sécheresse (CERAAS), Senegal  http://www.ceraas.org/
• Centre de Recherches Agricoles de Saint-Louis (CRA St-Louis) – Research Center, Senegal  http://www.israsaintlouis.sn/
• Centre National de Recherches Agronomiques de Bambey (CNRA Bambey) – Research Center, Senegal  http://www.cnrabambey.sn/
• Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI), Ghana  https://www.cropsresearch.org/
• Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA) – Research Center, Senegal  https://www.isra.sn/
• Integrated Breeding Platform  www.integratedbreeding.net
• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)  ​​​​​​​www.ifad.org
• Makerere University Regional Center for Crop Improvement (MaRCCI), Uganda  ​​​​​​​https://marcci.org/
• National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), Uganda  ​​​​​​​https://www.naro.go.ug/
• National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), Uganda  ​​​​​​​http://www.nacrri.go.ug/
• National Semi-Arid Resources Research Institute (NaSARRI), Uganda  ​​​​​​​https://www.nasarri.go.ug/