The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) is a sub-regional not-for-profit Association. It was formally established in 1994 by ten member States represented by their National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) following the approval of the Framework for Action (FFA) for Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa by the Special Programme for Africa Agricultural Research (SPAAR).
The original ten member States included Burundi, represented by Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU); Democratic Republic of Congo, represented by Institut National pour l’etude et la’ Recherche Agronomique (INERA); Eritrea, represented by the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI); Ethiopia, represented by Ethioipian Institute of Agricultural Resaerch (EIAR); Madagascar, represented by Centre national de recherché appliqué au Development Rural (CERADERU/FOFIFA); Rwanda, represented by Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Rwanda (ISAR); Sudan, represented by Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC);Tanzania, represented by Department of Research and Development (DRD); and Uganda, represented by the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO). Subsequently, South Sudan joined ASARECA during the General Assembly convened in December 2011, while the Republic of the Congo (RoC) joined the Association in 2019, bringing the total membership to 12.