Supporting West African rice producers

The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund has approved initial funding of 99.16 million dollars to develop regional rice cultivation value chains as part of the Regional West Africa Rice Development project, the African Development Bank (AfDB) reported in November 2024.

The aim of the project is to increase food security and sovereignty in West Africa by encouraging public and private investments in rice value chains to increase self-sufficiency in rice in the region by 2030.

The funding of USD 99.16 million is intended for the first group of beneficiaries, which includes Gambia and Guinea-Bissau at national level, as well as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) at regional level.

The project will help to increase production and the productivity of rice cultivation, as well as improving income generation for farmers, particularly women and young people. It will also help to increase the resilience and capacity for adaptation of rice farms and production systems in response to climate change, as well as processing, marketing and the intraregional trade in rice.

At national level, the project plans to develop irrigation infrastructure and to improve the sustainability of irrigation services, support the distribution of supplies and improved, climate-smart seeds, and strengthen processing units and the marketing of local rice, with a particular emphasis on skills development and access to finance for women and young people. The project also aims to strengthen agricultural cooperatives and access to mechanisation, while improving farmers’ capacity for adaptation and resilience in response to climate change and extreme events.

At regional level, the first regional project, supported by AfricaRice, will provide regional technical support for encouraging innovation in rice cultivation value chains in the project’s intervention countries in West Africa. This includes a needs assessment for seeds and varieties in the various countries, as well as the production and distribution of improved seeds.

Supported by ECOWAS, the second regional project will concentrate on regional policy and regulatory reforms and harmonising these across the region. It is to contribute to improving governance in the West African rice sector through the ECOWAS Rice Observatory, which will also be supported by the project.

The project’s beneficiary countries are therefore all 15 countries in West Africa, each benefiting from the implementation of regional projects.

(AfDB/ile)

Read more on the AfDB website