Pioneering Project Launched to Boost Quality Rice Production in Africa

To reduce the rice postharvest losses in Africa, the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) has recently launched a project that would enhance the quality and marketability of Africa-grown rice through improved harvest and post harvest technologies. AfricaRice economist Dr. Aliou Diagne welcomed this project noting that the reduction of postharvest losses even by 10% will help increase farmer's income by about US$ 32 million in the eight countries where it is being piloted in West and East Africa.

In addition, the five-year project will also promote the development of new rice-based products and by-products, as well as explore the use of rice to produce fortified food items. AfricaRice partners with the national programs of Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and the Canada-based McGill University. The results of the project will be disseminated beyond the pilot countries.

"We are very excited by this project, because postharvest losses account for up to 25 percent of losses in agricultural production in Sierra Leone. A reduction of these losses could substantially increase food production in the country without increasing the cultivated area," said Mr. Nazir Mahmood, Research Officer from the Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute (SLARI).

For more details, view http://www.africaricecenter.org/warda/newsrel-cida-jun11.asp.