Achieving self-sufficiency in rice in Africa

Dr Harold Roy-Macauley

Director General

Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice)

www.AfricaRice.org

Importance of rice in SSA: facts & figures

• A strategic and political crop in SSA: demand growing at more than 6% per

year – faster than for any other food staple in SSA

• Most important dietary energy source in West Africa and Madagascar and

2nd most important in Africa

• A pathway out of poverty, employment opportunities for young men and

women entering job markets

• Before the 70s several countries in Africa were self-sufficient

in rice and even exported surplus to the region: Madagascar,

Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Guinea, RDC, etc.,

• Beyond the 70s: These countries became net importers of

rice

• Why? World Bank and FMI restructuring ? Complacency of

African governments ? Availability of huge quantities of cheap

rice from Asia?

SSA: from food exporter to importer

Case for rice self-sufficiency in Africa

• 2007/2008 food (rice) crisis

• Restriction on rice export for

their own food security in

2007/2008 - India, Vietnam,

Pakistan and Brazil

• Increase in international

trading price of rice by more

than 300% - from US$ 300 to

US$ 1,200 per ton in just 4

months

• Soaring rice prices led to riots in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire,

Egypt, Senegal, Mali…

Case for rice self-sufficiency in SSA

• Africa spends about US$ 5 billion

dollars on rice import annually

• Diversion of valuable foreign

exchange - Nigeria imported

about 3 million tons of rice in

2015, at US$ 850 million

• Emerging opportunities

• China has become a big rice

importer - US$ 1.5 billion in 2015

• Climate change: yield losses in

rice estimated between 10 and 15%

Rice and wheat account for one-fifth of

all agricultural imports in SSA

0.49

0.91 0.57

0.96

0.80 0.88

0.25 0.77 0.39

0.32

0.20 0.40 0.18 0.05 0.30

0.31 0.19 0.63 0.67 0.31 0.64

0.05 0.49

Rice self-sufficiency rate in some countries

Rice self-sufficiency: a complex concept in SSA

• Rice consumption is strongly linked to population growth

rate, particularly urban population

• As SSA’s Africa’s population explodes, so will the

population of rice eaters on the continent

• Rice self-sufficiency targets set by several countries:

Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire by 2017; Nigeria by 2018;

• But strong lobby of importers in many SSA countries

Multiple challenges to rice self-sufficiency

• Huge yield gap: about 1.4 t / ha

compared to 3.4 t / ha (worldwide)

• Continued use of old varieties

• Poor water management capacity

• Low mechanization use by

smallholders

• Low incentive for farmers (credits)

• Limited access to markets

• Weak links between rice value

chain actors - especially the

private sector

• Climate change

• Inadequate implementation of

policies to boost the sector

Can SSA be rice self-sufficient?

Significant progress made

• Mali, Madagascar, Guinea and

Sierra Leone already near self-

sufficiency

• FAO: Africa paddy production in

2016 at 29.7 MT (19.4 MT milled

rice) a new record

• Unprecedented rice production and

yield growth rates in SSA between

2007-2012 - due to R&D efforts

and government investments

• AfricaRice vision: help Africa

achieve 90% rice self-sufficiency by

2020

Scalable innovations along the rice value chain

Varieties

> 200 improved rice varieties released

in last 30 years in Africa:

• ARICA varieties: high-performing and climate-

smart

• NERICA varieties: area under upland

NERICAs : 1.7 million ha; adoption has lifted

about 8 million people out of poverty in 16

countries

• Sahel varieties: high-yielding for irrigated

ecologies: In Senegal, average yield increased

by 872 kg per ha and incomes by $227 per

cropping season; present value of net benefits

of Sahel adoption $ 24.6 million

• Hybrids: More than 50 developed by

AfricaRice show 15-20% yield advantage

compared with inbred check. Two hybrids

selected for release in Senegal in 2016

Some mega varieties

Variety name Ecology Yield (t/ha) Aroma

ARICA 1 Lowland 6.0

ARICA 3 Lowland 7.8

ARICA 5 Upland 3.8

NERICA 1 Upland 4.5

NERICA 4 Upland 4.5

NERICA 6 Upland 4.5

NERICA L-19 Lowland 6.0

NERICA L-20 Lowland 6.0

ORYLUX 1 Irrigated 8.0 Aromatic

ORYLUX 3 Irrigated 6.3 Aromatic

ORYLUX 6 Irrigated 6.5 Aromatic

Good agricultural practices (GAP)

basket development Intervention Typical farmers’ practice and

problems

GAP component

Variety choice Old varieties New varieties

Land preparation Not bunded, not well leveled Bunding & leveling

Sowing Random transplanting & delayed

sowing

Transplanting at optimum density and

time

Weeding Single herbicide & two hand-

weedings

Single herbicide & weeding with

mechanical weeder

Fertilizer application Very variable Site-specific nutrient management

Water management Permanent standing water Timing of drainage before harvesting

Crop management decision support tool:

RiceAdvice

• Allows rice farmers to apply mineral fertilizer more

efficiently to optimize production and profits and

reduce waste

• Helps rice farmers identify the best option for

fertilizers to be purchased, based on nutrient

requirement and fertilizer prices

• Farmers can increase rice yield by about 20%

and increase their profit margin by about $200

per hectare per season

Weed management decision support

• Total rice production losses attributable to weeds in SSA estimated at US$ 1.5 billion

• Tool for identifying major rice weeds of Africa

• Valuable resource for professionals involved in research, training and management of rice weeds in SSA

Improved land & water management

Smart-valleys approach

• A low-cost, participatory and sustainable

approach to develop inland valleys for

rice-based systems

• Major advantages: increased water

retention in farmers’ fields, less risk of

fertilizer losses due to flooding and

increased rice yields

• In Togo and Benin, average rice yields

of farmers using Smart-valleys approach

more than doubled from 1.5–2 to 3.5–

4.5 t/ha

• Impact studies indicate the potential

adoption rate is 67%

Mechanization

• Motorized weeders

• Threshers

• Combine harvesters

Improved quality of processed rice - GEM rice parboiler

• Energy-efficient, shortens processing time, reduces drudgery, and does not expose

the women parboilers to heat burns

• Training and innovation platform approach: improving the livelihood of more than a

1000 rural women in Benin and Nigeria

• More than doubling average monthly production of and income from parboiled rice

produced

Milling machine

From production focus to value chain focus

Pioneering work on experimental auctions and value chain development in Senegal

Packaging, branding and labeling of locally produced rice for urban and niche markets to enhance consumer attractiveness to locally produced rice in Glazou IP Parboiled rice “Riz Saveur” in Glazoue IP

Private sector: partners for scaling up

• Bringing together small-to-medium (SMEs) seed enterprises and scientists

• Collaborating with private sector on certified and quality rice seed production

• FASO KABA in Mali,

• NASECO Seed Company in partnership with NARO in Uganda;

• NAFASO in Burkina Faso

• ASI thresher manufacturing in partnership with private sector/SME blacksmiths in Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal

Youth entrepreneurship in rice value chain:

conceptual framework

• Competence and skills

for youths and women in

agribusiness enhanced

• Significant return on

investment when

improved rice

technologies, innovations

and services are combined

• Coaching & mentoring

youth and women to take

lead role in modernizing

the rice sector

Quality rice seed AWM

SMART-valleys Weeders

RiceAdvice ASI Thresher GEM rice Parboiler Packaging

Branding

Contribution to Nigeria’s Rice Transformation Agenda (RTA)

• AfricaRice has provided major inputs into the rice component of

Nigeria’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda:

• Secondment of 3 experts to the Rice Value Chain (unit) of the

Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD)

• AfricaRice’s best technologies were given for adoption in Nigeria

• Support to seed supply and seed systems development

• Support to rice-sector mechanization.

• Training and other capacity-development inputs

THE AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK HAS REQUESTED AFRICARICE TO

LEAD THE SUPPORT TO COUNTIRES IN ACHIEVING RICE-SELF-

SUFFICIENCY IN AFRICA THROUGH DEVELOPMENT OF A CONTINENTAL

RICE SELF-SUFFIIENCY PLAN

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE SUPPORT FROM ALL STAKEHOLDRS

Thank you