No.5 Evidence-Based Strategy for a Rice Green Revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa

  • #Policy Notes

It is urgent to increase productivity of staple crops per unit of land in order to improve food security and reduce hunger in sub Saharan Africa (SSA). It is by now clear that lowland rice is the most promising staple crop in SSA, because of the high transferability of improved technology from Asia. Based on empirical evidence, this short essay argues that SSA has failed to realize rice Green Revolution because basic rice cultivation practices, which have been common all over the Asia, have never been widely adopted in SSA. Therefore, our main conclusion is to invest in the capacity of extension systems to promote widespread adoption of improved rice cultivation practices as well as improved seeds and chemical fertilizer.

Download

Date of issuance
March 2019
Number of pages
14 page
Related areas
  • #Africa
Topics
  • #Agricultural / Rural Development
  • #Poverty Reduction
Research area
Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction
Research project