July 28, 2026 by Daniel Essiet
AfricaRice, AATF partner to boost rice production
The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) have signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at boosting rice productivity, strengthening food and nutrition security, and reducing poverty across Africa.
According to AfricaRice, Africa currently produces more than 30 million metric tons of rice annually, with major producers including Nigeria, Egypt, and Madagascar. However, the continent still faces a significant supply deficit, resulting in an annual rice import bill of approximately $6 billion to meet growing consumer demand.
The agreement brings together two of Africa’s leading agricultural institutions: AfricaRice, renowned for its rice research, breeding, and technology development, and AATF, which has extensive experience in scaling agricultural innovations to smallholder farmers across 32 African countries.
Under the partnership, the two organizations will collaborate to strengthen rice value chains, expand farmers’ access to improved rice varieties, including high-yielding hybrid rice, and promote productivity-enhancing technologies across the entire value chain, from seed production to marketing. The collaboration will focus on quality seed production and distribution, good agricultural practices, mechanization, decision-support tools for efficient input use, and improved rice processing technologies.
Director General, AfricaRice, Dr. Baboucarr Manneh, said the collaboration is designed to bridge the gap between scientific research and practical application.
“Through this partnership, we will work together with AATF to develop and promote mechanized tools and agricultural equipment to reduce drudgery in rice production, improve processing efficiency, and enhance the quality of locally produced rice,” he said.
Executive Director, AATF, Dr. Canisius Kanangire, said the partnership comes at a critical time as Africa grapples with mounting pressures on its food systems.
“We stand at a crossroads in Africa’s food production journey, where population growth, climate change, and declining agricultural productivity continue to threaten food and nutrition security. By investing in agricultural innovations, we have a unique opportunity to transform African agriculture into a powerful driver of economic growth,” he said.
The MoU combines AfricaRice’s research and innovation pipeline with AATF’s public-private partnership model to accelerate the adoption of improved rice technologies and support Africa’s drive toward rice self-sufficiency.
The partnership comes amid growing political and financial commitment to reducing the continent’s dependence on imported rice.
According to the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) and organizers of the West Africa Rice Investment Roundtable held in Accra, governments, development partners, and private investors recently pledged a combined $1.54 billion to strengthen the West African rice sector. The investment is expected to support increased domestic production, improve processing capacity, and reduce Africa’s reliance on rice imports over the coming years.
TAGS:
At Quintessence, there are endless possibilities1 hour ago
Photographers’ deep search into living on waters1 hour ago
Turning human connections into visual narratives1 hour ago
Attack on PVC collection centre won’t derail poll, says INEC1 hour ago
