Pirates . . . pirates and more African pirates
News of pirate activity off the East African coast, specifically off the Somali coast, has become commonplace. Most individuals who follow world news 
will be familiar with the numerous Somali pirate incidents, some high-profile, other not, which have from time to time dominated the airwaves.
But pirate attacks are not limited to waters off the Somali coast. Indeed outside Africa, there are significant piracy problems in parts of Asia. But even within Africa, the problem of piracy extends beyond eastern Africa.
Recently, the Ghanaian navy captured and returned a Nigerian oil tanker that had been hijacked off the Nigerian coast, near Lagos. According to the International Maritime Bureau, there were some 100 pirate attacks in West Africa last year. This is bad news for West Africa, and ultimately like Somali piracy, bad news for all of Africa.
Countries in Africa must do everything within their powers to ensure that the growing piracy problem is arrested and ultimately eliminated as soon as possible. A significant piracy threat to commerce will make development on the continent nearly impossible because so much of global merchandise is transported by shipping. It is imperative that the piracy problem is attacked now while it is small. The last think Africa needs is another huge problem to add the big issues of governance, corruption, human rights, etc. The list is already too long. Let’s not add piracy to the list.
include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. A primary goal of WARDA is to increase the sustainable productivity of rice-based cropping systems while conserving the natural resource base and contributing to the food security of poor rural and urban households. WARDA was established in 1970 and became a full-fledged member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in 1986.