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ECOWAS steps up efforts to make West Africa self-sufficient in rice by 2025

Demand for rice is outstripping supply in most West African countries, forcing countries to import to make up the shortfall. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), its member states and partners are determined to reverse this unsustainable trend by growing enough rice at regional level to feed the expanding population and meet growing demand.

Today, the ECOWAS Commission and its partners are announcing its new Regional Action Plan to implement its rice policy, commonly known as the "Rice Offensive". An ECOWAP donor roundtable will follow this hybrid (virtual and face-to-face) event to mobilize the resources needed to implement the action plan.

"West Africa currently relies on imports to meet growing demand. Not only does this deplete countries' scarce foreign exchange reserves, it also undermines indigenous capacity in rice production and its value chain," said Alain Sy Traoré, Director of Agriculture at the ECOWAS Directorate General for Agriculture.

What is the situation for rice in West Africa?

Rice is one of the main staple foods for most of the 380 million people living in West Africa. Consequently, its sustainable production and processing are crucial to the region's food and nutritional security. The other main staples are maize, millet, sorghum and wheat. The region remains 60% self-sufficient in rice production.

While total rice production in the 15 countries rose from 8.63 MT in 2010 to 13.72 MT (milled equivalent) in 2019, rice consumption increased by 35%, faster than expected with almost 15.83 MT of rice consumed in 2017 alone. Overall, only around 60 percent of this is produced across West Africa. The rice yield growth rate of 1.03% per year does not match the population growth rate of 2.73%. The deficit in the rice supply chain has been filled by massive imports, mainly from Asian countries.

What is Rice Offensive?

The Rice Offensive was approved by the Council of Ministers in 2014 and launched in 2015 as a political response to the exceptionally high level of imports and the need to ensure food and nutritional security in the region. The objective set by the "Regional Rice Offensive" of ECOWAS member states is to achieve rice self-sufficiency by2025, producing the 24 million tonnes of milled rice expected to be consumed in the region.

"Heavy dependence on rice imports, population growth, massive urbanization and the rising cost of imported rice in recent times are just some of the reasons why we are accelerating efforts aimed at the sustainable revival of the rice economy in West Africa," explains Dr. Boladale Adebowale, staff member of Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Rice Policy Advisor to ECOWAS.

Food security and nutrition issues in West Africa are governed by the ECOWAS agricultural policy, known as ECOWAP. This is the regional plan designed to help West Africa achieve Zero Hunger and stimulate the agricultural economy. In addition, ECOWAP contributes to the realization of the agricultural ambitions of African Heads of State as set out in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).