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May 30, 2008
It has been dubbed simply as a
"Green Revolution" for Africa. It aims to double rice production
on the continent within 10 years, bringing help to some of the
world's poorest people during a period of spiraling global food
prices and dwindling stocks.
The Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) and a group of African and
international partners announced the ambitious initiative
Thursday (May 29) at a Japanese-hosted economic summit, the
Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development
(TICAD IV). That meeting was the largest gathering of African
leaders outside the continent itself with the leaders of most of
Africa's 53 nations present. The initiative also represented
perhaps JICA's biggest agricultural commitment in Africa.
Rice has become an increasingly important staple food in various
parts of the continent in recent years, particularly as people
migrate to the cities and change their eating habits. The
initiative aims to double overall continental production from
around 14 million tons today to 28 million tons within a decade.
The participants, known collectively as the Coalition for
African Rice Development (CARD), aim to achieve that goal in a
variety of ways. A major component of the program is to more
closely cooperate and coordinate existing projects.
JICA, for instance, has been involved for several years in
helping to develop a strain of rice called NERICA which is
particularly suited to the harsh African uplands. That program
will continue to develop new strains and expand the distribution
of seeds to farmers.
Other activities will include the introduction of better farming
techniques, increased research and education, better extension
facilities, upgrading run-down irrigation systems, expanding
cultivated areas, upgrading quality controls and marketing and
assisting women rice producers.
JICA Senior Vice President Kenzo Oshima told the audience his
organization had been involved in more than 100 rice projects in
Africa in the last 30 years and under the umbrella of the latest
initiative, it would become involved in 32 programs in 15
countries.
The "Green Revolution" announcement was particularly timely. One
of the major topics at the TICAD conference was the current
global food crisis and the impact the rising prices and
dwindling stocks was having, particularly among some of the
poorest peoples in the world.
Japanese Professor Keijiro Otsuka (FASID) told delegates that
targeting the African rice crop rather than cereals such as
maize had been a deliberate choice. "With rice we can more
accurately predict the outcome," he said. "We know what we can
and should do with rice. Doubling production will be difficult
but it is possible."
Another speaker, Robert Stewart Zeigler, warned that "Africa
needs to develop a cogent, African-wide system" of rice
production, but it would not come cheaply. "Hubs of rice
innovation" - research and training centers - must be
established, but even that capacity building phase of the
initiative would probably cost at least $20 million in the next
five years. "We need to
coordinate and harmonize all the current systems, bring them all
together and then continue to innovate," Monty Jones,
universally referred to as the 'father' of NERICA rice, said.
If the targets of the
initiative are 'predictable' as Professor Otsuka maintains, rice
production has other advantages. Unlike tobacco, for instance,
which is simply a cash crop, rice can produce both needed cash
from sales and exports but also help to feed a continent where
several hundred million people are routinely malnourished.
Around 70% of Africa's 900
million people live in rural areas and 90% of those work in
agriculture which makes up 25% of the continent's gross domestic
product. However, Africa's low yield farms, while slowly
increasing output, have not been able to meet the demands of a
population expanding by 2.5% annually.
Grain imports, therefore, have
been increasing by 3%-4% annually and even then Africa cannot
meet the demands of its own population with some 200 million
people permanently malnourished.
Rice has become increasingly
popular as rural people move to the cities and among more
affluent Africans.
The "Green Revolution"
initiative will target three main geographical areas of rice
production in Africa - rain-fed uplands where the NERICA
experiments have been conducted, rain-fed lowlands and irrigated
farms. Each has different problems and each needs different
solutions.
The lowlands cover some 20
million hectares, or 42% of the rice lands, but offer major
potential. For a variety of reasons, including farmers’
reluctance to cultivate in regions susceptible to disease and
difficult climatic conditions, the lowlands have not been fully
exploited. The initiative will establish a new model for rice
cultivation and the introduction of new varieties of rice.
Yields on the rain-fed uplands
is generally low and the NERICA rice has been proven to be more
resistant to weeds, drought, pests and disease. Under the right
conditions, NERICA can produce significantly higher yields and
25% greater protein content. Research programs will be
continued. Experts said that until now efforts to get more
farmers to understand and use NERICA had been disappointing and
a major effort would be undertaken to distribute the new rice to
many more growers and governments.
During the 1970s and 1980s
there was significant investment in irrigation projects but many
of them fell into disrepair. Rice yields plummeted in these
badly maintained irrigation schemes, but in others rice yields
could top 5 tons per hectare, which is comparable to the highest
levels in Asia.
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JICA Initiatives
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Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) (PDF/216KB) |
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