The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) today announced the formation of ICRISAT South-South Initiative (IS-SI) to boost India-Africa partnership on agriculture research aimed at tackling poverty in drylands.

Dr Nigel Poole, Chairman of ICRISAT Governing Board, in a statement said IS-SI will build upon ICRISAT's strong India-Africa partnership to scale up its role as the driver of prosperity and economic opportunities in the dryland tropics.

Addressing participants of the Indo-Africa roundtable on agriculture for development in New Delhi, Dr Poole explained that IS-SI will provide the platform for focussed and systematic international partnerships critical for a more effective and inclusive development cooperation between the two continents.

Every one dollar spent on international agricultural research leads to a return on investment of nine dollars worth of economic value in developing countries.

Dr William Dar, ICRISAT Director General, said “IS-SI will open more opportunities for increased and technical support and enhanced public-private people partnerships on research for development.”

“This initiative will also see better policies, more effective institutions, improved infrastructure and better access to markets and to higher quality inputs particularly for dryland farmers in India and Africa,” Mr Dar added.

Dr S.Ayyappan, Director General of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), expressed that this initiative will enhance South-South partnership between India and Africa.

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