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< No. 67 >

3

Rice Cultivation in Africa <Part 1> New Series

Introduction In order to achieve comprehensive development through people’s own efforts in Africa, one certainly cannot ignore the existence of rural villages where more than 70% of the population lives depending largely on agriculture. One tends to imagine “ugari” made of corn, and “couscous” from sorghum and millet as staple foods in Africa, however, rice has been grown in West Africa for over 3,000 years. In East Africa, rice cultivation has been increasing rapidly in recent years. This is due to the fact that rice has high nutritional value and is tasty, and that it can be a subsistence or a cash crop. Still, the yield is extremely low in Africa (1 ton/ha), compared with Asia (3-3.5 ton/ha).

Japan’s support to Africa today is centered around three important areas that were agreed on at the 4th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV). These are: 1) boosting economic growth; 2) Ensuring “Human Security” and 3) Addressing environmental issues and climate change. The core of Japan’s agricultural support has been rice cultivation. The rationale for the support is that supply of rice and wheat falls short of demand among the main grain crops (corn, sorghum, rice and wheat), and that rice is more suited than wheat to climatic conditions in Africa. In addition, it is possible for Japan to utilize its experience in supporting rice cultivation in Asia, and the country has a long history of technical support in Africa such as the 30-year support in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania.

With this background, the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) was established recently with the objective of doubling rice cultivation in sub-Saharan Africa in 10 years. CARD tries to increase yield per unit of rice through selection of appropriate rice varieties for three cultivation systems in Africa, namely

irrigated paddy field, rain-fed lowland wetland, and rain-fed field, including promotion of NERICA, a high-yielding variety that is suited to the conditions in Africa. It also works towards improving cultivation techniques and promotion of necessary inputs (water, fertilizer etc) to increase the yield.

AAI has participated in many agriculture/rural development activities, mainly in the Middle East and West Africa. However since the Upland Rice Variety Selection Technique training course held at TBIC in 2006, we have kept links with rice cultivation in other parts of Africa, participating in the projects described in the table below. In addition, we have been cultivating friendships with trainees specializing in rice cultivation in sub-Saharn Africa, while running courses as part of the Upland Rice Variety Selection Technique course, and have been accumulating information related to rice cultivation in Africa.

Given the current trend in Japan’s cooperation in Africa, in this new series, we would like to report on our efforts to support rice cultivation, which is a core area of Japan’s cooperation. We will share lessons we have learned through our activities, and will dispatch our own thoughts on subjects such as challenges and future recommendations for rice cultivation development in Africa.

Project Duration Rice related activity National Irrigation Master Plan, Tanzania 2001-2003 Formulation of the irrigation master plan with rice cultivation as the main crop

Demonstration through support for regional irrigation plans NERICA Rice Application Plan / NERICA Rice Development Plan , Uganda

2007-2009 Experimentation and selection of rice varieties by the researchers at the National Crop Resources Research Center in Uganda. Enhancement of seed variety improvement technologies

Sustainable rural development plan in highlands and central regions in Guinea.

Ongoing since 2008

Establishment of low-input type irrigation system using water throughout a year Adaptation of rice cultivation methods to suit local environment

Upland rice variety selection technique course 2006-2009 Development of human resources that contribute to superior variety selection, which forms the basis for rice variety promotion in Africa

Rice cultivation (Kilimanjaro, Tanzania) Upland rice cultivation training

course at TBIC

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< No. 68 >

3

Rice cultivation in Africa <Part 2>

Lessons learned in the Development Study on National Irrigation Master Plan in Tanzania

The Tanzanian government requested Japan to assist with the formulation of National Irrigation Master Plan, preparation of action plans, as well as verification studies on urgent actions, with an aim to develop effective irrigation development and planning in the country. The study was conducted for three years since 2001.

Due to the rapid rise in the population and an increase in rice consumption, from the viewpoint of food security, the increase in steady rice production is one of the most important challenges facing Tanzania. To achieve the objective of increased production, irrigation development at the national level is vital. The reality of the government is that it does not only lack financial resources, but also has insufficient government organizational and staff capacities. It is not yet in a situation to be able to perform effective irrigation development. Overall, there are two major issues with regards to types and promotion methods of irrigation development in a country-specific manner. One is the establishment of appropriate irrigation development scale and levels. The other issue is to establish implementation frameworks and organizations for realistic irrigation development. In addition, as it is difficult to expect sufficient financial and technical inputs from the central government, it was considered to be more appropriate to choose an implementation system whereby local governments become the promoters of the irrigation development with the full participation of the farmers themselves. Given this, it was deemed appropriate to focus on development of small scale irrigation systems based on traditional irrigation methods. They would be modernized where possible, using modern technologies, under appropriate development levels. For this, it was seen as important to produce manuals for irrigation techniques, which fit with small scale irrigation system and non-high-tech development levels. As for the implementation frameworks and organizations, it was suggested to promote irrigation development at the prefecture level based on direct participation by farmers. Through verification studies, the feasibility of this type of system was confirmed and necessary guidelines were prepared.

During the verification study stage, feasibility studies were conducted at potential priority areas for irrigation development, which were selected based on rapid field trips. For the priority areas that were confirmed as having high potential, we aimed to establish a system for prefectural technicians to integrate the irrigation development in the prefectural development plan and implement it. Throughout these activities, we continued to improve the manuals and guidelines, by using them in

our actual field works. We found unexpectedly large number of issues arose when it came to the actual use by technicians on the ground. For example, the manual describes how to measure the inflow to know the water resource amount that can be supplied to the target sites. However we realized we needed to also include how often one should measure the inflow, when there are large annual fluctuations. Similarly, where there are prominent seasonal changes, it was found to be necessary to describe possible ranges of average rice yields and selling prices in target areas rather than provide exact expected figures. Moreover, we were obliged to improve the manuals so that users can automatically read crop water requirement and internal rates of return from a table as opposed to having to calculate them. Many technicians expressed strong interest in the usefulness of processes such as the simulation of irrigation areas by simple measurement using GPS. This has been used as a tool for irrigation development in the country to date, contributing to efficient irrigation development.

In the National Rice Development Strategy for Tanzania formulated last year with guidance from the CARD (Coalition for African Rice Development), the establishment of irrigation facilities is stated as being one of the main pillars for rice production enhancement. Similarly, improvement of irrigation and water harvesting techniques are two more of the fundamental strategies. Furthermore, increased rice production through the irrigation schemes in selected areas is one of the short-term strategies. Spatial distribution of areas with different irrigation potential and irrigation facility development plans, which were developed as part of the Master Plan Study, were utilized in the strategy paper, forming the foundation for the irrigated rice field development plan. Tanzania’s irrigation development is a typical plan in Africa. This Master Plan Study has taught us about the fact that there is a form of development which is different from that in developed countries and in countries which have already developed an extensive irrigation network.

Prefectural government staff

conducting field survey following the guidelines

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< No. 69 >

3

Rice cultivation in Africa <Part 3>

Upland rice cultivation in Uganda

Uganda’s rice cultivation is mainly paddy rice, grown in the low-land wetlands in the eastern part of the country where it has been cultivated for the last hundred years. The country has 70,000 ha of paddy - rain fed and irrigated paddies combined. On the other hand, the upland rice variety is still new and cultivation has been very limited. However, as the NERICA variety was introduced, the cultivation area has been increasing rapidly – from 1,500 ha in 2002 to 40,000 ha in 2008. In order to meet the growing demand for rice, development of irrigated paddy is effective. In 2009, I participated in the NERICA Rice Promotion Project in Uganda as a short-term expert to study the current situation of the cultivation techniques of upland variety farmers. Here, based on the experience, I would like to introduce how farmers in Uganda are viewing and using the upland variety cultivation technique.

This investigation targeted farmers in the area around the National Crop Resources Research Institute near Kampala. The target site is a gently hilly area, and many farmers were cultivating in the relatively flat area in valleys rather than on the hill slopes. The lower flatter area is more appropriate for upland rice cultivation because of its higher water table and more fertile soil that has accumulated organic matter. Many farmers became interested in upland rice cultivation after seeing the crop cultivated by farmers who were trained and guided by project counterparts to start cultivation as initial extension targets. Most farmers had less than one year experience in upland rice cultivation, and many started cultivation with seeds that they bought from the pioneer farmers. Most of the farmers were cultivating NERICA 4, and the cultivation area was mostly small scale, or around 0.1 ha. The largest cultivation area was 1.7 ha.

As there was no existing cultivation technique, the basic knowledge of cultivation was also passed on by the pioneer farmers, and therefore followed the cultivation guidelines developed by the project. For

upland rice cultivation, weeding is the important point for increasing yields. In order to make weeding easier, it is important to plant the seeds in rows. We could observe all the farmers, including farmers around the target areas, seeding in rows. Inter-row space was between 25 and 40 cm, which was close to the 30 cm recommended by the project. All the farmers performed weeding three times during the cultivation period, which was also in accordance with the project’s cultivation guidelines.

As explained above, techniques that the project promoted were absorbed by the farmers. However, there were also some examples whereby farmers were applying techniques used on existing crops to upland rice. Sickles for harvest were not commonly available, and farmers were typically using hatchets in large plots and harvesting only ear in small plots. Threshing was mostly done by hitting rice ears with a pole. For this, farmers said that harvest without straw is more convenient. The survey area was never before a rice cultivation area. This meant that there was no rice mill. For milling, the farmers needed to take paddy to the mills in a nearby town. For domestic consumption, many farmers were using pestles and mortars which they normally use for grinding maize. Furthermore, many farmers were practicing double cropping and inter-cropping between upland rice and maize, in contrast with paddy rice cultivation which is mostly single cropping. Although this is not directly related to cultivation techniques, I could see people using rice straw as thatch and for walls of huts near the rice plots. I felt that upland rice is penetrating the local people’s lifestyles.

Still, upland rice cropping in Uganda is in its infancy. Although farmers are adding their innovation to cultivation techniques, in order to establish upland rice cultivation, it is important to increase production efficiency with the use of sickles and threshing machines, and to improve market access through measures including establishment of rice mills. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to potential problems, for example pest outbreak, which may arise in future as the cultivation areas increase.

Upland rice field in the valley between hills Pestle and mortar (left)

A hut with rice straw roof (right)

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< No. 70 >

3

Rice cultivation in Africa <Part 4>

Rain-fed rice cultivation in Guinea

Not many people know that the West African country Guinea has a 2000-year tradition of rice cultivation. The staple of Guinea is, of course, rice, and it is estimated that 90 kg of rice per person is consumed per year. The precipitation of Guinea is over 4,000 mm in the Capital Conakry. Inland, the rainfall is also high - between 1,500-2,000 mm - and most of the rain falls during the rainy season between May and October. There are generally four types of rice cultivation in Guinea, namely: 1) Upland rice: upland rice cultivation on the slopes of hilly areas using the shifting cultivation system, 2) Bas fond rice: lowland paddy rice cultivation in the inland area, 3) Floodplain rice: extensive rice cultivation using the vast floodplain along the Niger River, and 4) Mangrove rice: lowland paddy rice cultivation in the coastal lowland area. Let us introduce the first three types of cultivation.

Upland rice cultivation in the mountains and on slopes is operating under rain fed. On the contrary, paddy rice cultivation used to be dependent on rain fall and water naturally running along the land contours in the rainy season, but after achieving independence, the country made (and continues to make) efforts to promote rice cultivation with active water control by introducing irrigation facilities. However, most cultivation is still rainfall dependent, because of the destruction of facilities by floods occurring during the rainy season and the introduction of inappropriate facilities and inadequate management.

Paddy rice cultivation is done using both direct sowing and transplanting methods. In Bas fond rice cultivation, the transplanting method is mainly used as the water flow is fast. In floodplain cultivation, both direct sowing and transplanting methods are used depending on the location and conditions. The paddling by dismantling borders and lumps of soil from the previous cultivation was also observed. Seedling production for transplanting is conducted on banks near paddy fields or along the farm roads. Seeds are sown after hastening of germination, and are grown within 30-40 days. In the case of Bas fond rice cultivation and floodplain rice

cultivation, as they are cultivated without having any control over water, planting timing is totally dependent on rainfall therefore, sometimes seedlings can grow too high. If this happens, the tips of the seedlings are cut before planting. Planting is done randomly. After planting, there is little tending activity such as water management or weeding. Ear level harvesting is done and post harvest treatments are done using traditional methods of drying and threshing in the field. Seeds are mostly self harvested. With these traditional cultivation methods, there is a significant amount of loss and the production rate is low with an average of 1.5 tons per ha in the country.

In Guinea, rice production cannot catch up with demand, and a large amount of rice is imported. To remedy this, the Guinean Government has been promoting increased rice production. In 2008, the rice cultivation area size was 830,000 ha, with 1.45 tons per ha yield. The total production was approximately 1.2 million tons. However, the statistics are a little doubtful. In any case, Guinea is a member of the first group of the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD), and has formulated the National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS). The strategy aims to achieve self sufficiency in rice and export through the rice production increase plan, with targets of dramatically increased cultivation area of 1,600,000 ha with 2.73 million tons of production per year by 2018. In the NRDS, in order to achieve the targets, it is planned to introduce improved varieties including NERICA, increase the use of fertilizers and pesticides, improve processing techniques, consolidate and repair irrigation facilities, and create a focus on human resource development.

NERICA was introduced through pilots in 1997 as an upland rice variety, and a seed production project started in 1999. Seed production has been supported since then by the Japanese government and NGOs. Achieving self-sufficiency in rice production is an extremely important policy, leading to the reduction of imports and the outflow of foreign currency. Many farmers are hoping to benefit from the NRDS and increase rice production and improve their livelihoods.

Growing seedlings on the border

Upland rice cultivation on the slopes

Transplanting paddy rice in Bas fond

Paddy rice cultivation in floodplain

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< No. 71 >

3

Rice Cultivation in Africa <Part 5>

Training course on Upland Rice Variety Selection Techniques for Africa

The training need in this field has increased dramatically, with a vision to double the rice production in Africa being agreed at the TICAD IV, and with the formation of the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD). This led to JICA’s decision to continue the training course for a further three years from 2009. The AAI has been commissioned to conduct the training courses. In October 2010, eight participants from eight African countries were being trained and a total of five training sessions have been conducted.

This course aims to promote cultivation of the upland NERICA rice cultivar developed by the Africa Rice Center. To promote NERICA it is necessary to advance different techniques

for variety selection test, seed production and variety dissemination. In this course, practical sessions are incorporated in the curriculum particularly focusing on the variety selection test. When participants arrive in Japan in late July, it is the time for heading for early upland varieties. Therefore, the practical sessions start with the examination of heading. After that, participants complete practical sessions on examination of the maturation and yields. In the latter part of the training, participants learn methods to calculate yields from raw data (yield components) and statistical analysis. Although August is out of season, using another training plot, participants learn planting field design, seeding methods and examination of germination. In addition, they learn about seed production, through lectures and field visits. Furthermore, we prepare a test field that contains different varieties to teach, through roguing practice, techniques to remove off-types. There are only a few experts on upland rice varieties in Africa. It is important to develop human resources that can put these basic techniques into practice in planting fields.

Among the three rice cultivation related training courses offered at JICA Tsukuba, this is the only course that deals with upland rice varieties. However, there is a limit on how much one can master within the three months of training. There are many useful techniques that would be beneficial for African technicians. These include upland rice variety cultivation techniques used by farmers in Ibaraki Prefecture and methods

for trial cultivation to determine the optimal amount of fertilizer application and planting densities.

In AAI News No. 65, we reported that the majority of the participants between 2006 and 2008 were from eastern and southern African countries and that there was a discrepancy between the participants’ home countries and countries targeted by the CARD. To rectify this, in the training courses conducted from 2009, participants were mainly drawn from the CARD target countries and the number of participants from West Africa increased. We pointed out that most of the CARD target countries are Francophone. However, the participants from the five Francophone countries who were accepted in the training courses so far had sufficient understanding of English and there have been no major language issues. There are still many CARD target countries that have not been part of the training courses. It is recommended to actively take participants from new countries in particular in the West Africa Group 1, if English speaking participants can be identified (table 1).

In the training follow-up activities introduced in the article entitled “Close Friends from Far Countries” in AAI News No. 70, we could confirm that the ex-participants from the country were working on rice variety selection techniques using the knowledge and skills gained in the training course. Their activities were supported by the local JICA office. We also received a report that the action plan developed by ex-participants from Cameroon during the 2009 training course has been officially approved at their workplace and is to be implemented from 2011. Since the establishment of the CARD, support for rice production in Africa has become active and many countries have finalized national strategies for increasing rice production. As these projects get implemented, it is expected that there will be more opportunities for the participants to actually use what they learn on the JICA training course in the field in their own countries.

Table 1 Nationality of participants for the upland rice variety selection techniques for Africa

2006-2008

2009-2010

2006-2008

2009-2010

Ghana 1 2 Kenya 2 0Guinea 0 0 Tanzania 6 1Mali 0 0 Uganda 3 2Nigeria 2 1 Group 2 Ethiopia 2 0Senegal 0 0 13 3Sierra Leone 1 2 Madagascar 0 1Benin 2 2 Mozambique 2 0Burkina Faso 0 2 Group 2 Zambia 0 1Cote d'lvoire 0 2 Malawi 4 0Gambia 1 1 Zimbabwe 4 1Liberia 0 0 10 3Togo 0 0 30 20

7 12Group 1 Cameroon 0 2

D R Congo 0 0Cetral Africa R 0 0Rwanda 0 0

0 2

West

Central

East

South

Sub total

Sub total

Group 2

Nate: All the four participants from Benin were fromthe JICA expert's at the Africa Rice Center (formallyWARDA). One out of the four participants was aBenin national.

Sub total

Sub totalGrand total

Group 1

Group 2

Group 1

Group 1

Non-CARDpriority

Number of Number ofRegion

CARDcategory

Country RegionCARD

categoryCountry

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< No. 72 >

3

Rice Cultivation in Africa <Part 6>

Summary of the series and future challenges

In the past five issues of AAINews we have reported on

rice cultivation in Africa. These included the

formulation of the Development Study on National

Irrigation Master Plan in Tanzania, upland rice

cultivation in Uganda, current state of rice cultivation in

Guinea, and Area-focused Training Course on Upland

Rice Variety Selection Techniques for Africa.

There are a number of ways for classifying the rice

cultivation systems in Africa. Although some

classification systems are unique to individual countries,

the four classification types introduced in the 4th part of

the series can be applied for different parts of Africa.

These are namely slope of hilly area, inland area,

floodplain and coastal lowland area. In this last part of

the series, we will summarize case studies that were

introduced in each part in the series using these four

classifications.

In the first part, we introduced the efforts of the

Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) to

increase rice production in Africa. CARD classifies rice

cultivation system in three categories namely irrigated

paddy field, rain-fed lowland wetland, and rain-fed up

land field. The organization works on selection of

high-yield and locally adapted varieties, improvement in

cultivation techniques and promotion of necessary

inputs (water, fertilizer etc) to increase yield. Three

geographical conditions, namely inland area, floodplain

and coastal lowland area are applicable in Guinea.

Depending on the availability of irrigation systems,

coastal lowland can be divided into two categories -

irrigated paddy field or rain-fed lowland paddy field.

Slope of hilly area would be rain-fed up land field.

In Tanzania introduced in part two, the annual

precipitation is between 500-1,000 mm. Whether they

grow rice in paddy in inland area or in floodplain,

irrigation is basically essential. Therefore the

nation-wide irrigation master plan was formulated.

Given that there are insufficient financial

resources, and insufficient technical and

organizational capacity necessary for irrigation

facility development and management, a

manual was produced focusing on small scale

irrigation facility development. Official

guidelines were also developed for

establishing a system for development and

promotion of small scale irrigation led by

prefectural government with full participation

from local farmers.

Part three focused on upland rice cultivation in

Uganda, introducing local farmers’ efforts to

stabilize upland rice cultivation in inland area

which is considered to contain a high level of

water and nutrients in the soil compared to slope of hilly

area.

In the example of Guinea in Part four, we reported on

basic and simple paddy rice cultivation in inland area

and floodplain along rivers. The country’s development

plans promote development of low-input irrigation

facilities and rice cultivation that is appropriate for local

environmental conditions. Unlike Tanzania, Guinea has

an extremely large amount of rainfall and experiences

frequent flooding. These aspects need to be considered

in irrigation facility planning and consolidation, as well

as in development of new cultivation techniques.

As understood in these examples, even with shared

geographical elements, the environment for rice

cultivation differs depending on rainfall and its

distribution. It is important to identify appropriate

technologies for the particular environments. It is also

important to understand differing appropriate cultivation

environments both for paddy rice and upland rice.

Rice, whether it is paddy or upland, requires a large

quantity of water compared with other crops. In order to

increase the productivity and its stability, it is essential

to deploy wisdom to effectively utilize limited water

resources. Effective utilization which AAI has been

working on is considered to be becoming critical. The

status of rice in Africa is different from that in Asia.

Rice cultivation needs to be an integral part of the

multiple cultivation system involving various crops that

are appropriate for the local environmental conditions.

In order to achieve this, it is necessary to develop

techniques, ensuring effective utilization of a variety of

geographic conditions, and diversification of crops and

cropping periods. Furthermore, in continuing to be

involved in rice cultivation in Africa, AAI will try to

foster relationships with the 50 ex-participants from 16

countries who participated in Area-focused Training

Course on Upland Rice Variety Selection Techniques for

Africa introduced in Part five.

Irrigated paddy Rain-fed lowland Rain-fed up land field field wetland

(Cultivation system classified by CARD)

Geographical conditions and rice cultivation case studies

introduced in the series

Geographical conditions

Slope of hilly area

Inland area

Floodplain

Coastal lowland area

Development Study on National

Irrigation Master Plan in Tanzania/

Development of effective irrigation plan

Uganda / upland rice

cultivation (rain-fed)

Guinea /

mangrove rice

Guinea /

floodplain rice

(rain-fed)

Guinea/upland rice

(sifting cultivation)

Guinea / bas fond

rice (rain-fed)