The African Rice Initiative
The African Rice Initiative (ARI), launched in March 2002, aims to scale up the dissemination of the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) throughout Sub-Saharan
Africa. Seeking to fight poverty through the dissemination of NERICA, the ARI is in line with the
New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and is an important follow-up to the
Tokyo International Conference on African Development
(TICAD).
Seven pilot countries have been selected for the extensive dissemination of
NERICA. Non-pilot countries in WARDA member countries as well as selected Eastern and Southern African countries will also take part in the NERICA dissemination through the
Participatory Varietal Selection
(PVS) activities.
Initially, the ARI is focussing on the upland ecology, for which the original NERICAs were
bred. It will also promote complementary technologies to improve soil fertility and alleviate other problems associated with rice production.
The NERICA Consortium for Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa is the implementation mechanism for this new Initiative, which will be the vehicle for an extended partnership among rice-development
stakeholders, policy-makers and donors in Sub-Saharan Africa.
By 2006, the area under NERICA is expected to be over 200,000 ha with a production close to 750,000
tonness per
year. Nearly US$90 million worth of rice imports will be saved. This is quite an impressive return to a projected investment of US$15 million over a 5-year
period. The Japanese Government, the United Nations Development Programme, the Rockefeller
Foundation, and the World Bank have already committed and secured funding for at least the first 2 years of the
program.
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