Mission & Vision:

The institute’s mandate is to “provide farmers in the Northern, Upper East, and Upper West Regions with appropriate technologies to increase their food and fiber crop production based on a sustainable production system which maintains and increases soil fertility”. The crops covered in its research mandate include sorghum, millet, rice, maize, fonio, cowpea, groundnuts, soybean, Bambara groundnuts, pigeon pea, yam, cassava, sweet and frafra potatoes, cotton, and vegetables.

The Vision is to “become a lead research and development (R&D) Institution by making agricultural research responsive to farmer needs and national development”.

The Mission is to “conduct agricultural research in Northern Ghana to develop and introduce improved technologies that will enhance overall farm level productivity for improved livelihoods”.

The Savanna Agricultural Research Institute is located 16 km West of Tamale in Ghana’s Northern Guinea Savanna Zone. With one rainy season from April to October, it receives over 1000 mm of rainfall annually. The altitude is 200 m above sea level.

Core Values

What keeps us strong!

The Institute strives to uphold nine enduring core values: Discipline, Dedication, Reliability, Transparency, Teamwork, Hard Work, Mutual Respect, Professionalism, and selflessness. These values guide the decisions, actions, and relationship as CSIR-SARI works towards fulfilling its mission

Our Strategy

The Institute’s niche is an innovative response to the challenges presented by low productivity in the agricultural sector in northern Ghana. Three strategic goals guide the Institute. These are:

  • Access to appropriate technologies
  • Develop and adapt technologies, and
  • Deploy and commercialize for impact

These goals are anchored on strong and effective institutional programming and a conducive environment

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE:

Management: The Institute is managed by a 7-member Management Board yet to be inaugurated and a 17–member Internal Management Committee (IMC), chaired by the Director.

Staff Strength: As of the beginning of 2021, Staff strength stood at 329.  However, by the end of the year, the number had decreased to 311 comprising of 82 senior members, 93 senior staff, and 136 junior staff members. Staff distribution and the list of senior members and staff are presented below. Staff strength was affected in the year by promotions, appointments, retirements, resignations and deaths.  See Table 1 for full details.

The outstations located in Manga and Wa also have staff total of 31 and 29 respectively. Manga has 7 senior members, 6 senior staff, and 18 junior staff while Wa has 6 senior members, 8 senior staff, and 15 junior staff.

FINANCE:

DOCUMENTATION, LIBRARY AND COMMUNICATION

The Documentation Section is to collate and edit all reports before submission to Head Office, deal with correspondences about research reports, and coordinate exhibitions, seminars, and field visits within and outside the institute besides other duties the Director requires the Section to perform.

SCIENTIFIC SUPPORT GROUP (SSG)

NORTHERN REGION FARMING SYSTEM RESEARCH GROUP (NRFSRG)

UPPER EAST FARMING SYSTEM RESEARCH GROUP (UEFSRG)

UPPER WEST FARMING SYSTEM RESEARCH GROUP (UWFSRG)