Africa: Rice Production Sees Double Digit Growth in 2008

Data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) show that there was an 18 percent increase in rice production in 2008 in Africa, compared to 2007 production levels. The African Rice Center (WARDA) says that increase was brought about by WARDA member countries' adoption of key policy measures which were recommended by the Center in 2007.

Burkina Faso, one of the countries hardest hit by the food riots in 2007, increased its rice production by 241 percent in 2008. FAO attributes this increase to government support to farmers that ensured access to high quality certified rice seed, including rice varieties developed by the Africa Rice Center, and other basic farm inputs. Other African rice-producing countries that have recorded double-digit increases in rice production include Senegal (90 percent), Mali, Benin, Nigeria and Ghana.

Papa Abdoulaye Seck, WARDA director general, noted that "Rather than being a threat, the increasing rice price is a unique historical opportunity and incentive to use Africa's latent potential for rice production and break away from decades of policy bias against agriculture which accounts for 35 percent of sub-Saharan Africa's GDP and 75 percent of the continent's employment." Many African governments prioritized agriculture, in particular the local rice production, as a response to the rice crisis in 2007.

Read the press release at http://www.warda.cgiar.org/warda/newsrel-precom-sep09.asp