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Ahmed, who was represented by the director of agriculture in the
ministry, Mr Babatunde Azeez, while declaring the workshop open
yesterday urged ECOWAS member countries to improve the institution and
governance of the Regional Central of Excellence (RCoE) if the region is
to compete favorably in this era of rapid economic and technological
change.
He said the centres did not only require capital investment but appropriate mechanisms for institutional and governance of the centre must be put in place.
He further urged the delegates not treat the workshop like other workshops that brought stakeholders together to talk about the problems and go away to continue business as usual without implementation of decisions.
“Oblivious of the imminent crisis we may pretend to want to salvage when it would have already reached catastrophic levels. Let us bear in mind that we came together because we are determined to join forces for action. It behooves on us all to act now.
“Often times though, the benefits of workshops are undermined by weak follow-up actions. I therefore urge you to work hard on the follow up mechanism, namely the strategies/road maps and the network for RCoE practitioners and partners,” he said.
In his goodwill speech, the Executive Secretary, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), Prof. Baba Yusuf Abubakar, said WAAPP has recorded tremendous achievements in all of the four components, hence the establishment of it national centre of specialization.
Also the Chairman of CORAF/WECARD governing board, Dr. Alioune Fall, said the workshop present opportunity for stakeholders to present report on progress made in supporting NCoS in their evolution towards RCoE.
Dr Fall added that the workshop will help in the development of the road-map for the upgrade of the NCoS to RCoE, saying the creation of the centres comes from the will to pool expertise and investment of the participating countries in order to maximize the impact of agricultural innovation on food and nutrition security through improved productivity, quality and farmer income and economic actors.
The plan of action according to him will be between 2016 and 2020, and it will enhance sharing of skills and investment around strategic value chains for participating countries, while promoting the regional research programmes through a participatory approach and better alignment of regional programmes for agricultural research of the NCoS – RCoE compared to development objectives of the WAAPP
He said the centres did not only require capital investment but appropriate mechanisms for institutional and governance of the centre must be put in place.
He further urged the delegates not treat the workshop like other workshops that brought stakeholders together to talk about the problems and go away to continue business as usual without implementation of decisions.
“Oblivious of the imminent crisis we may pretend to want to salvage when it would have already reached catastrophic levels. Let us bear in mind that we came together because we are determined to join forces for action. It behooves on us all to act now.
“Often times though, the benefits of workshops are undermined by weak follow-up actions. I therefore urge you to work hard on the follow up mechanism, namely the strategies/road maps and the network for RCoE practitioners and partners,” he said.
In his goodwill speech, the Executive Secretary, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), Prof. Baba Yusuf Abubakar, said WAAPP has recorded tremendous achievements in all of the four components, hence the establishment of it national centre of specialization.
Also the Chairman of CORAF/WECARD governing board, Dr. Alioune Fall, said the workshop present opportunity for stakeholders to present report on progress made in supporting NCoS in their evolution towards RCoE.
Dr Fall added that the workshop will help in the development of the road-map for the upgrade of the NCoS to RCoE, saying the creation of the centres comes from the will to pool expertise and investment of the participating countries in order to maximize the impact of agricultural innovation on food and nutrition security through improved productivity, quality and farmer income and economic actors.
The plan of action according to him will be between 2016 and 2020, and it will enhance sharing of skills and investment around strategic value chains for participating countries, while promoting the regional research programmes through a participatory approach and better alignment of regional programmes for agricultural research of the NCoS – RCoE compared to development objectives of the WAAPP
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