Why we focus on rice
Rice is one of the most important staple crops in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in West Africa. In the past decades, demand for rice in the region has been growing faster than anywhere else in the world. The increases in demand cannot be met by local or regional production, as a result up to 40 % of Rice is imported from Asia. Lower processing and marketing infrastructure, missing access to high quality inputs as well as weaker markets disadvantage local production systems.
We, at CARI, work together with a variety of partners in order to empower rice farmers by increasing the competitiveness of domestic rice supply, thus raising their income.
We currently work in Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Tanzania.
Support
smallholder farmers
Make
self-sufficiency a reality
Mitigate
climate impacts
Create
added value with regional production
Our Approach
Our technical and financial assistance is based on a value chain approach. The principal aim is to foster linkages amongst rice value chain actors, and as a result, create win-win situations for all stakeholders.
We are mainstreaming sustainability by following the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) Standard. SRP is a multi-stakeholder platform established in 2011 to promote climate smart best practices for rice. SRP is led by UN Environment, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and GIZ. So far more than 100 institutional members committed themselves to follow SRP standards.
The SRP standard is an inclusive tool for practitioners in the public and private sector to drive wide-scale adoption of climate-smart sustainable best practice among rice smallholders and keeps it real as, it is designed for farm-level impact. Each requirement is relevant, practical, and under the farmer’s control.
Our achievements
The below numbers indicate the achievements and continuing success of CARI’s work over the past 8 years.
Direct and indirect beneficiaries with higher income and improved food security
Women trained in Farmer Business Schools (FBS) and nutrition
Smallholder farmers trained in Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
Smallholder farmers have participated in Famer Business Schools (FBS)
Smallholders trained in Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP)
Income increase of up to
Yield increase of up to
Women trained in parboiling
Sustainable development goals
Recognizing the worldwide call, by the United Nations for Sustainable Development on Economic, Social and Ecological levels, the CARI project strongly contributes to the following Sustainable Development Goals:
