Cotonou, Benin
June 28, 2007
Participants of the Third Annual
Meeting of the Africa Policy Research and Advocacy Group at
the Africa Rice Center (WARDA),
25-27 June, in Cotonou, Benin, expressed deep concern about the
current world rice situation and its implications for
sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
World rice reserves, estimated at 80.6 million tonnes in
2005-06, are at the lowest level since 1983-84. These stocks
represent less than 2 months of consumption and half of the
stocks are being held by China. World rice consumption continues
to outstrip rice production and rice prices are rising and are
expected to double in the next couple of years.
According to the Director General of the Africa Rice Center
(WARDA) Dr Papa Abdoulaye Seck, the current world rice situation
has serious implications, particularly for SSA, because about
40% of the region’s demand for rice is being met by imports.
With only 13% of world population, Africa accounts for 32% of
world rice imports, which makes it a big player in the
international rice trade. In 2006, SSA imported more than 9
million tonnes of rice worth an estimated US$ 2 billion.
Explaining that only 7% of the total world rice production is
traded, WARDA Economist Dr Aliou Diagne said that this supply
was too limited for SSA to rely on for its growing rice demand.
“SSA should urgently reconsider its rice import policy to avoid
the looming crisis.”
“African national rice economies will increasingly become
exposed to unpredictable external supply and price shocks,” Dr
Diagne remarked, referring to the recent warning by the World
Bank that the current rise in prices of cereals and the low
level of global reserves could unleash widespread food riots in
Africa. The prices of rice have already gone up in Thailand and
Vietnam, the traditional rice exporters to Africa.
Africa has an immense untapped potential for rice production.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO), the paddy (unhulled rice) production in Africa
has gone up for the sixth consecutive year, reaching 21.6
million tonnes in 2006.
But with rice consumption in West Africa – the rice belt of
Africa – doubling every 9 years, the challenge of keeping up
with it is immense.
Call for urgent government support to African rice farmers
The workshop participants emphasized that the African
governments should give adequate support to small farmers who
form the majority of rice producers in SSA. Smallholder rice
farmers in the region have been facing unfair competition from
subsidized rice imports.
Pascal Gbenou from the Network of Farmers’ and Agricultural
Producers’ Organizations of West Africa (ROPPA) said that rice
continues to be one of the most protected commodities in every
country except in West Africa.
Mr Gbenou urged the West African Economic and Monetary Union
(UEMOA) to adopt a higher level of the common import tariff
(TEC) for agricultural products, because the current TEC level
applied by UEMOA has a detrimental effect on the sub-region’s
agricultural sector in general and on rice in particular.
In his response, Mr Kolado Bocoum from UEMOA stated that UEMOA
was revisiting the TEC issue and that UEMOA’s agricultural
policies would greatly benefit from inputs from specialized
structures like WARDA.
Value of right policies to boost Africa’s rice sector
“Right policies are indeed essential to make African rice sector
competitive,” said Dr Akande Oyetunji, Director General of the
Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER).
“We are witnessing how the recent rice policies adopted by
Nigeria as part of the Presidential Rice Initiative have boosted
the country’s rice sector,” Dr Oyetunji said. Nigeria’s rice
production was nearly 4 million tonnes in 2006, 10% above the
2005 level.
Moreover, Nigeria was able to reduce its rice imports in 2005 by
over 800,000 tonnes, thanks to the strong measures taken by the
government to increase domestic rice production and decrease
rice imports.
Opportunity for Africa
WARDA economists think that the availability of cheap imported
rice has until now provided a ready excuse for many SSA
governments to neglect the domestic rice production.
“In that sense, the rise in world rice prices is a golden
opportunity for SSA, because this increases the competitiveness
of the local rice sector,” stated Dr Diagne, explaining that
this was one of the main issues discussed at the meeting by the
Africa Policy Research and Advocacy Group.
The Group, which was established 3 years ago, serves as a
channel for transmitting policies to promote the rice sector in
West Africa and its goal is to improve the impact of policy
research and institutional arrangements on the competitiveness
of the rice sector in the region.
Highlighting the importance of this meeting, WARDA Assistant
Director of Research Dr Shellemiah Keya said that the
recommendations from the meeting would serve as valuable inputs
for advocacy at the forthcoming session of the Council of
Ministers of WARDA member countries scheduled for September
2007.
In addition to WARDA economists, the meeting was attended by
experts in rice economics and policy from Nigeria, Niger, Benin,
Burkina Faso and Mali as well as representatives from the West
African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), Oxfam and farmers’
organizations. |
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