FAO: Better Seeds Can Help Benin Become Self-Sufficient in Rice

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has started a US$500,000 project in Benin that aims to help the West African nation reach its goal of being fully self-sufficient in rice by the end of the decade. FAO sees access to high quality seeds as the key to achieving this goal. The UN agency said that it will facilitate intensified production and marketing of high quality seeds. An increase in production of high quality rice seeds should lead to a sufficient rise in annual rice output to cover 70% of domestic demand, according to FAO.

Benin aims to produce 300,000 tons of rice, more than double current output, by 2011. Based on the latest official figures, the country imported some 240,000 tons of rice in 2004. FAO said that this figure is likely to rise because of Benin's burgeoning population.

FAO will work together with the African Rice Center for the project. WARDA asserts that the protein levels in rice obtained from high quality seeds are significantly higher than those of traditional varieties.

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