Can Africa grow more rice and alleviate food insecurity?

Africa’s rice sector has major opportunities to increase its yield gains through improved agronomic practices while avoiding massive land conversion, a study by international scientists has claimed. The research team claims that rice demand in Africa is projected to more than double over the next 25 years due to population growth and increased rice consumption. The study by the research team estimates that the continent imports up to 40 percent of its rice. “Nearly 15 million hectares of rice are waiting for yield improvement in Africa, but no yield gain can be achieved without better agronomy,” said Patricio Grassini, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln professor of agronomy who coordinated the team working on the research study. Agronomic practices involving improved land development, soil and plant nutrition, weed control and water management, as well as moderate cropland expansion, “could give the region a more optimistic future,” said Kazuki Saito, a former researcher at the ...