2.1

In Sub-Sahara Africa, the import of rice recently increased to 6.6 million tons in 2000, with the increase of consumption of rice. Though rice production in the area has increased to 11.6 million tons, it is very important target for African nations to increase  rice production up to consumption level.

2.2

The NERICA varieties developed by the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) with financial support from Japan and other countries has such characteristics as high yield, disease resistance and early maturity. It gives a new potential to upland rice cultivation which is the most prevalent type of rice production in Africa. (The area for upland rice cultivation is currently 1.9 million ha.)

2.3

To promote the diffusion of NERICA varieties, the African Rice Initiative for 17 West African nations was proposed in March 2002.  FAO is also working to promote widespread production of the rice varieties in Ghana and Sierra Leone.

2.4

The problems with the promotion of diffusion of NERICA varieties are to establish a system that enables to provide a sufficient amount of seeds of appropriate quality and to set up production standards in accordance with the characteristics of the varieties and local conditions, and have farmers get accustomed to the production methods suited to the standards.
Japan, with a long history of research and extension of rice cultivation, is expected to work actively to solve the problems.

2.5

The growing area of NERICA varieties with favorable traits seems to increase. However, In order not to expand the area of slash and burn cultivation as much as possible, it is necessary to preserve the soil fertility with diversified methods including the use of leguminous plants and organic fertilizers and the introduction of livestock farming.

2.6

In the diffusion of the NERICA varieties, a production system should be examined to match the local characteristics, and to harmonize with the native upland crops as maize, millet and sorghum, staple food of people in African rural areas. In this case, it is important to use such research outcomes as the farming system, working in cooperation with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and other international agricultural research institutes.
 

3.1

In order to increase agricultural production in Africa, it is important to spread irrigated rice agriculture that has the potential of relatively high yield (more than 3t per hectare). In this case, it is effective if small-scale irrigation farms which are relatively easily managed by farmers are spread in rain fed lowland(valley bottom) (currently irrigated area is 1.65 million ha and area available for irrigation is estimated as 11 million ha). This comes from the experiences in agricultural development survey on rice cultivation in Sub-Sahara Africa conducted by our association (AICAF) for the last decade.
In the case of the Food for Work program which the World Food Program (WFP) has conducted in Côte d'Ivoire since 1999 financially backed by Japan, farmers repaired small dams, irrigation canals and developed rice paddies by themselves in cooperation with extension groups.  This is said to be a case in which development of rice paddies was carried out at low costs and strong sense of participation was nurtured among farmers.

3.2

For the sustainable development of irrigated farming, it is necessary to have a socioeconomic system that helps encourage farmers to participate actively, such as   water reservoir, fertilizers and other materials, financial systems, extension, roads and other infrastructure. Concerned nations should be fully aware of this and formulate agricultural policy, and donor countries should make efforts to provide cooperation for irrigated farming efficiently and effectively, working in cooperation with each other.

3.3

 We propose the establishment of an African rice agriculture extension center (tentative name,) funded by Japan, as a base for extension of rice farming in Africa.  A group of specialists in rice production will be dispatched to the center from Japan and they will conduct experiments of rice production and extension activities by making use of WARDA's research outcomes and supported by local researchers and extension workers.
The center will be used jointly by neighboring nations for experiments to find out Africa-style rice production suitable to its natural and social environments and for extension activities and training concerned.
 

4.1

In order to expand agricultural production in Africa to cope with population increase at the annual rate of more than 2 percent, it is necessary to increase production by increasing yield per unit of land through improvement of varieties and production methods, because it is questionable whether it is possible to increase the growing area at the past pace.  This means that the yield of such African traditional food crops as maize, millet, sorghum, cassava and legume should be increased by growing better varieties and improving production techniques.  Research of these crops is mainly conducted by research institutes (including IITA, ICRISAT and CIAT) under the umbrella of CGIAR.  For the advancement and acceleration of the research, it may be necessary to improve international research support systems including research capacity of donor nations.

4.2

For example, to promote breeding of better varieties, it is useful to assess the international trend of breeding research for each crop and provide concerned information for breeding researchers, governments of donor nations and international development organizations including the World Bank.  If necessary, the review of the research system will be proposed.  Although CGIAR and other international organizations would perform such functions, Japan could support such roles and be responsible for some of the functions.
 

5.1

 The aims of cooperation for rural development are not limited to the expansion of agricultural production.  They also include the decrease of the number of the people in poverty. Promotion of rural development cooperation includes the improvement in infrastructure for rural life, such as water systems, medical care, education, roads and prevention of desertification, and also nurturing agriculture-related economic activities that can provide employment and income. One example of means of the latter is to grow or keep such product as vegetables or small livestock animals for local market by using resources that are easily available.
In dealing with such issues properly, projects should conform to the intentions of local people and donor nations are to work in full cooperation.  In this field, NGOs at home and overseas have made achievements and there are strong expectations for Japanese NGOs.

5.2

The following are examples concerning agriculture:
Regarding water, it is necessary to study the effectiveness of small water resources development projects which include the provision of domestic water.
Regarding elementary education, school lunch is used as a means to spread education on a trial basis, and various possibilities to spread education are to be examined.
 

6.1

Many African nations have recently accepted so called structural adjustment policies,  withdrawing from agricultural support programs.  It seems difficult for their governments to implement suitable agricultural promotion policies.  Against such a background, accepting governmental officials in charge of agricultural policies of major African nations to Japan for a certain period and providing training on the process of Asia-style economic development in which agriculture served as the basis for economic development, with cooperation from government officials from Asian nations will largely contribute to capacity building of African governments. Organizations that can provide practical support for such training need to be prepared.

6.2

Forming network that enables exchange between Japanese and African high-ranking government officials in charge of agricultural policies is beneficial to the smooth promotion of agricultural cooperation.  To do so, it is possible to dispatch high-ranking government official who have been in charge of agricultural administration or experts from Japan to local governments as advisors.  It is necessary to make a system to support the advisors, by sorting out situation of agricultural policies of each African nation and setting up how Japan will handle the situation.

6.3

In order to respond to a wide variety of demand for human resources necessary for agricultural and rural development cooperation in Africa, it is necessary to improve the data bank of international cooperation specialists with a list of a wide variety of personnel including agriculture-related officials of the national and prefectural governments, university staff and people in private sector.

6.4

It is necessary to set up conditions for the provision of local information, exchange between local NGOs and NGOs from other donor countries and technical training so more Japanese NGOs will be able to be involved in agricultural and rural development cooperation in Africa.

6.5

 It is meaningful to work in cooperation with concerned organizations, NGOs and private organizations to hold symposiums, raise funds and conduct publicity activities in order to gain people's understanding on and support for agricultural and rural development cooperation in Africa.

6.6

It is necessary to upgrade domestic private organizations so they will be able to play various roles described above.