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Asia-Africa Partnerships for Promoting Rice Research and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

Asia-Africa Partnerships for Promoting Rice Research and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Kei Otsuka Chair, Board of Trustees of IRRI Director, FASID (Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development) Graduate Program, Tokyo.

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Asia-Africa Partnerships for Promoting Rice Research and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

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  1. Asia-Africa Partnerships for Promoting Rice Research and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa Kei Otsuka Chair, Board of Trustees of IRRI Director, FASID (Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development) Graduate Program, Tokyo

  2. In the 1950s and the early 1960s in Asia, population was growing rapidly, grain yield was stagnant, and uncultivated land was being exhausted. Therefore, there was serious fear of future famine in Asia. What is the difference between contemporary SSA and tropical Asia several decades ago?

  3. Figure 1. Changes in Cereal Yield (ton/ha) in Sub- Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia

  4. Development and diffusion of a series of fertilizer-responsive, short-maturing, non-photoperiod sensitive, high-yielding modern varieties (MVs) in irrigated and favorable rainfed areas. What Is Green Revolution? In order to realize a GR in SSA, where rainfall is low and unpredictable, irrigation is poorly developed, and prices of chemical fertilizer are often prohibitively high, we have to develop “appropriate” rice production technologies.

  5. Why Rice? • Rice is the fastest growing crop in SSA. • SSA is endowed with huge uncultivated wetlands. • Accumulated knowledge of successful rice Green Revolution in Asia can be transferred to SSA. • NERICA, “miracle” upland rice, has been already developed. • Aside from maize, which crop should we choose to focus on in SSA to reduce poverty?

  6. Figure 2. Yield Curves of Traditional Varieties (TVs) and Modern Varieties (MVs) Yield/Ha Improved MVs & irrigation Early MVs TVs Fertilizer/Ha

  7. Tons/ha Tons/ha 4.5 4.5 Indonesia Indonesia 4.0 4.0 Philippines Philippines Thailand Thailand Vietnam Vietnam 3.5 3.5 Bangladesh Bangladesh India India 3.0 3.0 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka 2.5 2.5 2.0 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.0 1.0 1950 1950 1960 1960 1970 1970 1980 1980 1990 1990 2000 2000 Year Figure 3. Changes in Rice Yield (ton/ha) in Major Rice-Growing Countries in Tropical Asia, 5 Year Moving Averages

  8. Figure 4. Yield (ton/ha) of Improved Varieties in the Philippines by Production Environment

  9. Major Challenges to Realize a Green Revolution in SSA • Develop high-yielding, drought–tolerant (or early-maturing), and disease-resistant MVs • Establish sustainable soil nutrient management systems • Promote improved water management practices • Do we have evidence to support the importance of these “integrated crop management systems” for SSA?

  10. Table 1. Yield of NERICA in Uganda by previous crop and region (t/ha) Kijima, Sserunkuuma, and Otsuka (2006)

  11. How to Promote NERICA? • NERICA is surprisingly high-yielding and, hence, extremely promising. • NERICA is soil fertility-dependent (or fertilizer-responsive)  How to manage soil nutrients? • NERICA yield is low under severe drought  How to manage water? • Adoption rate of NERICA is low (less than 1% in Uganda) How to build capacity?

  12. Table 2. Yield (ton/ha) of Lowland Rice in Doho Irrigation Scheme, Uganda, in 2001Sserunkuuma, Ochom, and Ainembabazi (2004)

  13. Table 3. Yield (t/ha) of Lowland Rice in Côte d’Ivoire in 2000/01Sakurai (2006)

  14. Prospects of Research and Development for Lowland Rice Production in SSA • Despite the use of early MVs and little use of chemical fertilizer, lowland rice yield seems high in SSA, particularly if water is properly managed. • Due to population pressure, massive conversion of uncultivated wetlands to paddy fields is taking place in SSA. • There is huge potential in the improvement of lowland rice technology, which will have significant impacts on food security in SSA.

  15. Concluding Remarks (1) It is no longer a dream to realize a rice Green Revolution in SSA, particularly if we develop strong partnerships between IRRI, which has successful Green Revolution experience in Asia, and WARDA, which has developed another “miracle rice” (i.e., NERICA) and established strong expertise, reputation, and networks in SSA, in such areas as capacity building, and development of appropriate MVs and sustainable soil and water management systems for SSA.

  16. Concluding Remarks (2) • We need better irrigation, credit, and marketing systems, and improved national R&D and extension systems in SSA. • But such social, economic, or institutional systems will be induced to develop, once truly profitable technologies are developed for this region. • This is the most important lesson we should learn from the successful experience in Asia.

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