Realizing Africa's rice promise

Présentation de l'éditeur : Rice is a strategic and political crop in many African countries. The hikes in rice prices since 2007 have shown the vulnerability of many African countries that depend on the world market for rice imports and the need to boost Africa's domestic production. The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive overview of Africa's rice sector and ongoing rice research and development activities, and indicate priorities for action on how to realize Africa's Rice Promise', i.e. the notion that Africa has sufficient land and water resources to produce enough rice to feed its own population and, in the long term, generate export revenues. The critical challenge facing the African rice sector is to enhance performance in production, processing and marketing to respond to a major concern that needs to be turned into an opportunity: the growing demand for rice as a preferred staple. This book discusses challenges and opportunities related to: sustainably increasing rice production and rice productivity; enhancing rice quality and marketing; promoting conducive policies for smallholder and agribusiness development; and strengthening impact-oriented rice research, extension and knowledge management. The analyses and case studies presented in this book will be a valuable resource for researchers, development agents from public and private sectors, rice value- chain actors and policy makers concerned with Realizing Africa's Rice Promise. Main contents. Foreword. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Section 1. Rice in Africa: an overview. 1. From Warda to AfricaRice: an overview of rice research for development activities conducted in partnership in Africa. 2. Africa's rice economy before and after the 2008 rice crisis. 3. Estimation of cultivated area, number of farming households and yield for major rice-growing environments in Africa. 4. Farmer perceptions of the biophysical constraints to rice production in Sub-Saharan Africa, and potential impact of research. Section 2. Rice genetic diversity and improvement. 5. A continent-wide, product-oriented approach to rice breeding in Africa. 6. Rice varietal release systems in Africa. 7. Diversity of rice and related wild species in Africa. 8. Gene flow in African rice farmers' fields. 9. Making rice genomics work for Africa. 10. Unlocking the Oryza glaberrima treasure for rice breeding in Africa. 11. Rice genetic improvement for abiotic stress tolerance in Africa. 12. Integration of molecular markers in rice improvement: a case study on resistance to rice yellow mottle virus. 13. Hybrid rice in Africa: challenges and prospects. 14. Development of an integrated rice seed sector in Sub-Saharan Africa: meeting the needs of farmers. Section 3. Sustainable productivity enhancement. 15. Towards a better understanding of biophysical determinants of yield gaps and the potential for expansion of the rice area in Africa. 16. Managing weeds of rice in Africa. 17. Managing the major diseases of rice in Africa. 18. Managing insect pests of rice in Africa. 19. Bird damage to rice in Africa: evidence and control. 20. Increasing rice productivity through improved nutrient use in Africa. 21. Assessing and improving water productivity of irrigated rice systems in Africa. 22. Inland valleys: Africa's future food baskets. Section 4. Rice value chain development. 23. Consumer preferences for rice in Africa. 24. Tailoring African rice value chains to consumers. 25. Improving grain quality of locally produced rice in Africa. 26. Developing competitive rice value chains. 27. Mechanizing Africa's rice sector. Section 5. Working with rice communities. 28. Integrating gender considerations in rice research for development in Africa. 29. Towards a new approach for understanding interactions of technology with environment and society in small-scale rice farming. 30. Innovative and effective ways to enhance rural learning in Africa. 31. Raising rice yields and beyond: an experience of collective