AATF and Agri All Africa have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate the access of hybrid rice seeds in Kenya.
- •The two organizations will undertake capacity building for various stakeholders including seed companies, agro dealers, and farmers in the hybrid rice value chain.
- •Africa currently has a rice deficit of 16.7 million metric tons, being met through imports worth over US$7 billion, which constitutes a huge loss of the continent’s foreign exchange reserves.
- •Hybrid rice varieties are seen as key to bridging this gap.
According to Canisius Kanangire, the Executive Director of AATF, the two organizations share a common concern for the welfare of resource poor smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and recognize that they can work together to help the farmers to improve their crop yields and income.
“We will collaborate in rice value chain activities with the aim of achieving rice self-sufficiency in Kenya,” Kanangire noted.
Over the years, rice production has been on a downward trend leaving farmers disillusioned. This has been attributed to infestation by pests and diseases, overuse of farmlands, low input application due to rising prices and reduced water flow and dry spells.
According to Kayode Sani, the Rice project manager at AATF, there are several varieties including PWAN gold, AH18007, and AH18004, already rolled out to the farmers through private seed producers, national and international research institutes to establish functional African demand-driven rice value chain.
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