An international meeting to plan a project on
“Green Super Rice for the Resource-poor of Africa and Asia” was hosted by the
Africa Rice Center, 24-25 February, at its regional research station in Ibadan,
Nigeria.
The project aims to reduce poverty and hunger
and increase food and income security of resource-poor farmers in Africa and
Asia through the development and dissemination of “Green Super Rice” varieties
that give high and stable yield without requiring heavy inputs.
The African component of the project will be
coordinated by the Africa Rice Center and carried out in partnership with the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and national programs of project
countries, non-governmental organizations, farmers’ associations and the
private sector. Representatives of all the project partners attended the
planning meeting.
The project targets at least 5 million poor rice
farmers, including 3.5 million women farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, South-East
Asia and South Asia. The long-term (10 year) goal of the project is to increase
rice production by about 10% in the rainfed and irrigated areas of those
regions. In sub-Saharan Africa, the project covers Nigeria, Liberia, Rwanda,
Uganda, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, and Tanzania.
