Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice)

Published purpose

The project aims to help address the issue of rice production capacity in Africa by supporting local rice farmers, processors and marketers in applying new technologies and techniques for producing quality rice products. The project is designed to use the findings of its applied research to influence national and regional policy affecting the African rice industry to ensure that agricultural policy considers the needs of all rice agricultural stakeholders, especially local farmers. Rice is the most rapidly growing source of food in Africa. Both urban and rural populations have come to depend on it as a food staple that is easy to prepare, store and provides a high source of calories, making it an essential complement to good nutrition. In 2010, Africans consumed an estimated 26 million tons of rice, with an average per capita consumption rate of 24 kg per year. The formal African rice industry with its limited means for production is not able to meet this consumer demand with a yearly production of 16 million tons of rice. As a result, 40% of African rice consumers rely on global imports to satisfy their dietary needs. This component represents the second part of CIDA's contribution to the project, which is worth $7,575,000 in total. The activities continuing in this component were initiated in component number A034968-001 (Support to Rice Research in Africa I).