The Institut tchadien de recherche agronomique pour le développement (ITRAD), in cooperation with the Centre ouest et centre africain pour la recherche et développement agricole (CORAF), organised a regional workshop on 07 and 08 December in Ndjamena to consider the establishment of a national wheat specialisation centre (CNS) in the country as part of the implementation of the Programme de résilience des systèmes alimentaires (PRSA).
Chad has identified three priority value chains, including wheat. The aim was to bring together the players in the wheat value chain to work together to lay the groundwork for the NSC and initiate the process of setting it up.
Over the two days, participants took stock of research into the wheat value chain, and shared experiences from other countries that have set up national specialisation centres.
In the past, Chad, with its polders on the Lake, was one of the few countries in West and Central Africa to produce and process wheat for consumption by the whole of Central Africa and some European countries.
As the NSC for wheat, Chad will be able to build synergy between the actions of national and international institutions in this area, with the aim of achieving excellence in research, developing a value chain and reducing national dependence on imports.
