Japan's Resilience is amazing: Supporting Africa's Rice Research at this time!

Abstract

Japan never gives up!!Despite the recent and still running challenges arising from the tsunami, earthquake and radiation spill, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has made a commitment to support Africa through IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) headquartered in the Philippines. Please read the story below. This story caught my eye, not just because it is a good story, but also because I served on the IRRI Board for 6 years (between 2003 and 2009). I enjoyed my time on this Board, of an extremely well managed CGIAR Centre. My time there also got me to appreciate the role rice plays in people’s lives across the world. I also became aware of the rising import bill on rice by African governments. Most of the rice was being imported from rice exporting Asian countries. Conditions for rice production in Africa are very different from those in Asia. Can Africa produce enough rice to meet its own demand? Not in the near future. Chances are it will continue to rely to some large measure on rice imports from Asia. Africa, however, provides a fertile ground for highland and rain-fed rice research. Also with climate change and likely increase in flooding events, who knows, there may arise in future conditions for irrigated rice! Further research needs to look into what nutrition challenges lie ahead for an Africa that consumes more rice than the traditional staples (maize, cassava, sorghum, sweet potatoes, plantain and others). Well, I wanted to send accolades to Japan for supporting young African scientists in rice production and primary processing, and to acknowledge IRRI’s continued focus on Africa’s rice production potential, working with PhilRice, a Philippine Government Rice Research and Training institution.