Voices Newsletter
September 2008, No. 85
The Cultivation of Rice in Africa
Rice farmer in Benin
When you think of rice, you picture Asia. But rice has been grown for more than 3000 years in Africa. According to the Diola people living near the Casamance River in Senegal, at the beginning of creation the Rain God gave their ancestors Diola rice which carried a life-giving power. Even today the Diola people grow this indigenous rice and use it in rituals to preserve the link with their ancestors.
Today rice is a commodity of strategic significance in Africa. It is grown and consumed in about 40 countries on the continent and is the fastest growing source of food with an annual growth rate of 5% since 1960.
In the past few months, rice prices in the global market have jumped to record levels not reached since the 1970's food crisis. Because of Africa's high dependence on imported rice, soaring prices hit rice consumers hard, provoking food riots in several of the major rice-importing countries such as Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal and Mali. This crisis is forcing African countries to focus on growing rice locally. Studies by the Africa Rice Center (WARDA) and its partners have shown that yield gains from one to two tonnes per hectare are possible in irrigated and lowland systems, using integrated crop management practices, without significant increases in production costs.
Rice scripts for broadcasters
Getting information about improved technologies to farmers is one of the mandates of the Africa Rice Center (WARDA). As part of its Rice Rural Learning Campaign, WARDA has collaborated with Farm Radio International to produce ten scripts about important rice production and seed management methods.
The first three of these scripts were included in Package 81 and two winners of our scriptwriting competition about climate change were included in Package 84. A new collection of five scripts has just been completed and is included in this special package about rice (#85). Based on your feedback five more rice scripts will be developed and sent out to you in 2009. A list of all ten rice scripts is presented below.
Rice radio programs developed by the Africa Rice Center (WARDA) and partners
- 85.1 Select only your best rice seed with floatation and manual sorting
Step-by-step instructions about how to use the rice floatation method - 85.2 How to prepare a rice nursery
A farmer learns the hard way about the value of establishing a rice nursery - 85.3 Higher yields and less weeding if you transplant rice from a nursery
Two farmers discuss the use of transplanting techniques based on experiences in the field - 85.4 Dry rice seed off the ground to ensure top quality
Use mats or tables to prevent deterioration of rice seed - 85.5 Two women rice farmers discuss their best seed saving practices
Tips about container selection and pest control for stored rice - 84.2 Growing NERICA is a farming solution for coping with climate change
Testimonials from six farmers about the benefits of NERICA rice - 84.14 Changing farming production in Africa to adapt to climate change
Farmers adopt effective strategies to cope with new environmental conditions - 81.1 A local plant prevents pest damage to stored seeds
Powder made from a plant provides alternative pest control in Mali - 81.2 Powder of little pepper protects stored rice
A farmer from Guinea shares his method of pest control in stored rice - 81.3 The speaking scarecrows
An innovative way to chase birds away from cereal fields in Ghana
Please Note... more scripts about rice are available on our web site. Go to www.farmradio.org and search under "radio scripts".
- 84.3 New rice variety for Africa to save wetlands in Uganda
Farmers can increase earnings without encroaching on valuable wetlands - 58.3 Diversity beats disease in the rice field
Planting a mixture of crops and crop varieties helps prevent diseases - 58.2 Improve rice yields without buying fertilizer
Ideas for radio programs about how to choose and grow green manure crops with rice - 56.2 Plant breeding in the Philippines
Filipino farmers create trial plots to test different varieties of rice - 49.3 Learning to manage a loan
A woman farmer receives a loan to start her small rice-selling business
Did you know?
- Africa is a net importer of rice
- Consumption of rice in Africa has been growing at a rate of 5% annually since 1960
- Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire rank among the top 10 importers of rice in the world
- In 2006 Africa's rice imports cost $2 billion
- Due to its high dependence on the international market, Africa is vulnerable to unpredictable external supply and price shocks
Rice videos available
Photo: Cinéma Numérique Ambulant
WARDA has produced a series of educational videos about rice production with information about seed management, seedbed preparation, land and water management, transplanting, soil fertility, weed control, and post-harvest processing. So far, the videos are available in 20 African languages including:
Fon, Amharec, Mandinka, Twi, Ewe, Dagaari, Buli, Susu, Guerze, Luganda, Runyakitara, Swahili, Luo, Ateso, Samia, Bambara, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa andWolof.
A list of local distribution points is available on the WARDA website.
Africa Rice Center/WARDA
01 B.P. 2031
Cotonou
Benin
Telephone (229) 21350188
Fax (229) 21350556
E-mail warda@cgiar.org
http://www.warda.org/
About the Africa Rice Center
The Africa Rice Center (WARDA) is an intergovernmental research association of African member states. It is also one of the 15 international agricultural research centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). WARDA's mission is to "contribute to poverty alleviation and food security in Africa, through research, development and partnership activities aimed at increasing the productivity and profitability of the rice sector in ways that ensure the sustainability of the farming environment." The Center was called the West African Rice Development Association until January 2003 when the name was changed to "Africa Rice Center" due to its increasing role in rice research and development in sub-Saharan Africa.
WARDA has several resources to share including a facilitator's manual and field guides.
The story of Maman Christine and ODAMA FM
Maman Christine with her crops
ODAMA FM has been a life saver for Maman Christine Eboko. Maman Christine is a sixty-year old resident of Nanga Eboko, a village in the Central Province of Cameroon. She lives from farming. She grows maize, cassava and groundnuts. Previously, income from her three plantations did not enable her to live decently. For too long, she wasted a lot of energy on these plantations. But, all that changed when she learned about ODAMA FM, a local community radio station and a partner of Farm Radio International.
She now listens to ODAMA FM every evening on her neighbour's radio. The knowledge she gains has changed the way she farms. She says with delight that her annual groundnut production rose from 7 bags to 12 bags per year. Her annual income has increased to 180,000 CFA francs/year (275 euros), up from 105,000 CFA francs/year (155 Euros) a few years ago. With this increase in production her quality of life has really improved.
She is satisfied with the information she gets from the Farm Radio International programs. But she would like more programs on budgeting and financial planning. She believes that if she learns to manage her crops, in terms of stock and revenue, she would be better able to plan her finances in the longer term. Maman Christine says, it is one thing to have money, but it is another thing to know how to manage it and have a plan of action during difficult times.
HELP! We need your input.
What other rice topics are of interest to you and farmers in your audience?
What information would you like to see in upcoming packages?
Please contact us at:
Farm Radio International
1404 Scott Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K1Y 4M8
Canada
bmckay@farmradio.org
