Rice is Nice! Rice is set to become a major food staple in Africa, as urbanization and population growth has seen demand for rice grow rapidly over recent decades. The younger generation are eating more rice in place of traditional foods, for a number of reasons. Rice is easy to prepare, requires less energy to […]
Prof. Bancy Mati is the convenor and manager of the SRI-Africa knowledge portal. She ensures that information, publications and happenings in the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) nexus in Africa is collated and uploaded on the website. Prof. Mati is credited with introducing SRI in Kenya in 2009. From humble beginnings, she worked diligently with […]
RICE VALUE CHAIN Rice production (irrigated & rain-fed) with smallscale producers, intensive rice cultivation system, reduction of methane emissions, climate adaptation with varieties suited to irrigation and drought, rice-fish farming (rice + fish), digital agriculture, development of new rice-growing areas [view the presentation here: 5_Ag-3_5_CMR_EN_GM10_final] Cameroon has a national system for the annual evaluation of […]
The system of rice intensification (SRI) developed in Madagascar, is showing that by changing the management of rice plants, soil, water and nutrients it can increase the yields of irrigated rice by 25–50% or more while reducing water requirements by an equivalent percent. This gives farmers incentive to reduce their irrigation water use when growing […]
Many global regions, including East Africa, implement policy goals advocating increased agricultural self-sufficiency to promote economic development and food security. Required increases in production can, however, negatively impact the environment. We assessed upscaling sustainable rice intensification in East Africa, comparing regional trade and environmental policy scenarios using a novel hydro-economic modeling framework that optimizes farmer […]