Who We Are
#Rice4Prosperity
Our Story
The Alliance for Hybrid Rice in Africa (AHyRA) is a Public Private Alliance/ Partnership that promotes wide development and dissemination of quality, high yielding, and well adapted rice hybrids in Africa, develops delivery and commercialization pathways to impact the lives of rice farmers and other stakeholders through the extensive use of the technology in SSA. In addition, AHyRA catalyzes sustainable agro-business through licensing and commercializing the products of hybrid rice technology to improve the livelihood of rice farmers towards rice self-sufficient Africa.
Hybrid rice development and production offers a means to achieve significant yield gains in the region while building viable agri-businesses. The hybrid crop model has historically been used in Asia and other continents to leverage private sector involvement in rice seed production and is viable for revolutionizing rice production in Africa hence contributing towards elimination of extreme poverty and enhancement of food and nutrition security.
It is against this background that the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) in partnership with Hybrids East Africa Limited (HEAL) and aWhere initiated the Hybrid Rice Project in 2012 to develop 2-line hybrid rice technology for production and commercialization by private rice stakeholders in SSA. The partnership has developed high yielding rice hybrids that are well adapted to Africa’s conditions for use by smallholder farmers. Already eight rice hybrids have been registered and commercially released in Kenya.
Apart from AATF’s hybrid rice initiative, there are other private companies and public institutions such as Advanta Seeds, AfricaRice, Afritec, Bayer, Egypt Rice Program, and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) are developing and marketing hybrid rice. These efforts are yet to yield substantial results on the ground due to the fragmented nature of the initiatives.
In this light AATF consulted different stakeholders (IRRI, AfricaRice, Egypt Hybrid Rice Program, Bayer, Advanta and Afritec) on the need for an alliance to ensure consolidated efforts towards the promotion, adaptation, and commercialization of the hybrid rice technologies in the region for the benefit of African farmers. This led to the formation of AHyRA.
Our Vision
Our Mission
Promote wide development and deployment of quality, high yielding, and well-adapted rice hybrids in Africa, develop delivery and commercialized pathways to impact the lives of rice farmers and other stakeholders through the extensive use of the hybrid rice technologies and digital agriculture platforms along the rice value chain in Sub Saharan Africa.
Our Goals
- Promote collaboration and business integration among stakeholders of rice value chain to develop, produce and market hybrid rice seeds.
- Create a consolidated communication effort to facilitate an enabling environment for the sustainable use and scaling out of hybrid rice in Africa.
- Joint adaptability testing of available rice hybrids varieties by partners.
- Generate a robust database for parental lines and hybrid rice for the use of stakeholders, private seed companies in SSA.
- Strengthen the capacity of partners on hybrid rice technologies.
The team at AHyRA brings together specialists with rich experience and deep technical know-how from different regions across the world. At the helm, is the executive committee that steers the organization in developing strategic plans and policy development. In implementing the vision and mission, the executive committee is assisted by the secretariat through the technical committees and regional hubs.
AATF ED - Kanangire Canisius (Chair)
AfricaRice Director General - Harold Roy-Macauley (Member)
AFSTA Secretary General - Justin Rakotoarisaona (Member)
Eastern and South Africa lead (Member)
Western and Central Africa lead (Member)
AHyRA Director – Kayode Sanni (Member)
Investor representative (Ex Officio Member)
AHyRA Director - Kayode Sanni
AHyRA Coordinator -
Legal & IP Management Advisor - Jane Achando
Information’s Manager - George Achia
AATF ED - Kanangire Canisius (Chair)
IRRI Director General - (Member)
AfricaRice Director General - Harold Roy-Macauley (Member)
AFSTA Secretary General - Justin Rakotoarisaona (Member)
Eastern and South Africa lead (Member)
Western and Central Africa lead (Member)
AHyRA Director – Kayode Sanni (Member)
Investor representative (Ex Officio Member)
Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)
AATF Director of PDC – Emmanuel Okogbenin (Chair)
AHyRA Director – Kayode Sanni (Member)
Hybrid Rice Development Consortium (HRDC) - Jauhar Ali (Member)
Raafat El-Namaky (Member)
NARs representative (Member)
Seed Company representative Eastern/ South Africa – (Member)??
Seed Company representative Western/Central Africa – (Member) Stella Thomas
Technology Developer – John Mann (Member)
Technology Developer - John Corbett (Member)
Technology Developer – Ibrahim Shiundu (Member)
Eastern and South Africa
Western and Central Africa
Dr. KAYODE A. SANNI
Project Manager
Phone: 254 720 123456
Email: k.sanni@aatf-africa.org
John Doe
Project Manager
Phone: 254 000 000000
Email: name@aatf-africa.org
Joe Doe
Project Manager
Phone: 254 000 000000
Email: name@aatf-africa.org
International Public Institutions
National Public Institutions
Private Sector
