ANNUAL REPORT 2024
Boosting rice production in Africa by building capacity and forging partnerships
Africa is one of the fastest-growing markets for rice, with consumption growing at a rate of 6% year on year. However, due to low productivity, the region imports over 40% of its supply to keep up with consumer demand. With a yield gap of less than half the global average, Africa has great potential to significantly increase its rice production and become more rice self-sufficient. In 2024, IRRI’s multi-pronged activities in the region aimed at strengthening and sustainably advancing rice production.
Leveraging the accomplishments of previous successful projects such as the Stress Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA), the launch of AGGRI Alliance Phase 2 convened NARES organizations from twenty-two African nations to create a consolidated and inclusive network for rice breeding and seed systems. Phase 2 marks the project’s expansion from its initial focus on East and Southern Africa (2019–2023) to a broader reach across Sub-Saharan Africa, aiming to modernize rice breeding programs continent-wide. This supports national efforts to increase local rice production from 128,000 metric tons in 2019 to 846,000 metric tons by 2030 and reduce import dependence by 30% by 2027.
The inaugural National Rice Stakeholders’ Conference in Kenya, co-organized by IRRI and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), brought together public and private stakeholders to discuss strategies for rice self-sufficiency by 2030. The conference marked a stronger cooperation between IRRI, KALRO, and scaling partners which earlier resulted in the successful dissemination of high-yielding, climate-smart rice varieties like Komboka, Mkombozi, and CSR36, along with improved farming practices.
IRRI also supported the increased adoption of Komboka, an improved rice variety, through the Seed System Initiative in collaboration with the private sector. The success of this model has the potential to enhance seed systems in other East and Southern African countries. Supported by field days, crop tours, and tailored radio broadcasts, these campaigns are helping to raise awareness and change the attitudes of smallholder farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa. To further showcase the success of this partnership model, the IRRI Africa team and its partners have developed a documentary about Komboka, which is set to be released in 2025.
In Burundi, IRRI collaborated with the Institute of Agronomic Sciences of Burundi (ISABU) and CGIAR sister center International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), to provide local scaling partners with elite germplasm and technical know-how to mass produce high-quality seeds for distribution to farmers. Within the year, over 1,000 kilograms of rice seeds were released for irrigated lowland ecologies.
With AfricaRice, French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), and breeders from over twenty African countries, IRRI is helping develop a disease surveillance network to enable quicker detection and prevent the spread of various rice pathogens, which cause over 30% yield loss annually.
It would be a good idea for IRRI to continue providing its support and expertise to the scaling partners’ technicians to ensure that their rice fields are treated optimally. Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.
Mr. Jean-Claude Bacinoni
CAPAD