By Ochieng’ Ogodo
Journalist-Kenya
[NAIROBI] Paddy rice production
growth rate shot up from 3.2 per cent per year before the 2000–2007 rice crisis
to 8.4 per cent per year after the rice crisis 2007–2012 in sub-Saharan Africa
(SSA) according to an analysis by Benin
based Africa Rice Center .
The analysis also
showed that rice yield in SSA jumped by about 30 per cent from 2007 on average to
2012 and that it is increasing at a faster rate than the global average.
“This is very encouraging
news,” says AfricaRice Director General, Dr Papa Seck, who adds that “The surge in production and yield
is a result of key investments made by farmers, governments, the private
sector, the research community and donors to develop Africa’s
rice sector.”
Seck says in après release
that it is crucial to maintain this trend, since rice consumption continues to
increase in SSA at an annual rate of 5 per cent.
High rice prices in
late 2007 and 2008 sparked food riots in several African cities. Due to the “rice
crisis,” African governments, assisted by the international donor community, undertook
ambitious programmes to boost rice production capacity.
AfricaRice analysed
trends in rice production across the African continent, placing particular
emphasis on the periods before and after the 2007/2008 rice crisis to establish
the domestic production responses to these measures.
Data were retrieved
from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), accessed 7 February
2013).
“We were pleased to
learn that paddy rice production in SSA increased by 2.8 million tonnes from
2000 to 2007, and then accelerated, increasing by 4.7 million tonnes in
the period 2007–2012,” says AfricaRice
Deputy Director General, Dr. Marco Wopereis.
“But what’s more
important, the analysis revealed that average rice yield in SSA increased by
about 11 kg per ha per year from 1961 to 2007 and by a spectacular 108 kg per
ha per year from 2007 to 2012, despite drought and floods in several African
countries in 2011 and 2012.”
According to Wopereis such
growth rates are comparable with cereal yield growth rates after the Second
World War in the UK and the USA.
Global rice yield–
driven by the Green Revolution in Asia –
increased by 52 kg per ha per year over the period 1960–2010.
“Currently, 71 per cent
of the increase in paddy rice production in SSA can be explained by yield
increase and 29 per cent by area expansion.
Before the rice crisis,
only 24 per cent of production increase could be attributed to increases in
yield and 76 per cent to increases in harvested area,” Wopereis adds.
“This is evidence of
increased use of technological innovation, such as improved varieties and
improved crop management in general.”
Ochieng’ Ogodo is a Nairobi based journalist whose works have been published
in various parts of the world including Africa, the US and Europe. He is the
English-speaking Africa and Middle East region winner for the 2008 Reuters-IUCN
Media Awards for Excellence in Environmental Reporting. He is the chairman of
the Kenya Environment and Science Journalists Association. He can be reached at
ochiengogodo@yahoo.com, ochiengogodo@hotmail.com or ochiengogodo@gmail.com
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