July 2024
Picture 1: Scientists who participated in the building of AfRice-HEALTH surveillance and diagnostic network at Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire in a picture with the Director General of AfricaRice during the closing ceremony. (Photo credit: AfricaRice)
In March 2024, 35 participants from 19 African countries, representing CGIAR centers, National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs), and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) met in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, to establish a continental diagnostic and surveillance network for rice diseases. The workshop was co-organized by Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD) and Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) with financial support from the Genetic Innovation Science Group of the One CGIAR.
Named "AfRice-HEALTH", the established network seeks to improve the capacity of plant pathologists in modern diagnostic practices, techniques and analytics, and to strengthen networking and information exchange. Based on the slogan: "The world is stronger when it stands together to fight shared health threats", AfRice-HEALTH will enable use of standardized diagnostic protocols shared across member countries. This diagnostic capability will underpin a regional surveillance effort to detect and track the presence and distribution of rice pathogens/pathogen races, serving as an early warning system to guide plant health decision-making for preventing and responding to disease threats and for developing measures that limit economic losses.
AfRice-HEALTH has an ambitious goal of delivering timely updates on important plant pathology findings, particularly on surveillance and diagnostics, to rice breeders, NARS, NPPOs, policy makers, and other stakeholders.
Picture 2: Members of the working groups exchanging ideas during the workshop. (Photo credit: AfricaRice and CIRAD)
The network consists of five working groups established in March 2024 to focus on internal communication, standardized diagnostic protocols, capacity building, fundraising and external communication, and establishing coordinated surveillance efforts. By fostering effective internal communication, sharing standardized protocols, training the next generation of phytopathologists, sourcing funding, and setting up regular surveillance activities, AfRice-HEALTH ensures a comprehensive approach to tackling pathogen threats. This all-encompassing approach contributes to CGIAR's impact areas and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
To enhance communication and expand the membership of AfRice-HEALTH, AfricaRice intends to imminently launch a website for the network, and all interested parties will be encouraged to join and support the network’s betterment and sustainability. AfRice-HEALTH should serve as a blueprint for scaling up similar activities across other CGIAR focal crops for the region, hence increasing our overall impact on agricultural productivity and sustainability.
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