The Rice Dilemma: Can Sub-Saharan Africa Grow Enough to Feed Itself?

In this opinion editorial for IRRI’s 65th Anniversary, IRRI Regional Director for Africa Dr. Abdelbagi Ismail and IRRI Country Representative for Uganda and Gender and Livelihoods Research Leader Dr. Jummai Yila explain that sub-Saharan Africa is capable of being rice self-sufficient, but it necessitates continued partnerships with both public and private sectors, a bold and targeted policy reform, and investment at multiple levels of the rice value chain, and most importantly, securing social equity.

17 April 2025 – Rice production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has grown by ten times since the 1960s, but consumption has also increased exponentially. This was mainly driven by urbanization, population growth, and changes in dietary preferences, causing demand to overtake the regional production capacity. Consequently, one of the region’s major challenges remains to meet such growing demands while securing smallholder farmers’ livelihoods and ensuring climate resilience.

Now, the question is: Can sub-Saharan Africa meet the growing demand for rice in the region?

IRRI Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Abdelbagi Ismail, answers yes. “The region is capable of being rice self-sufficient and further being a net exporter.” Dr. Ismail explained that SSA has enough resources to be self-sufficient but is hindered by poor investment in research, training, and infrastructure from national programs. Smallholder farmers still use old varieties, traditional cultural practices, and lack access to mechanization, quality seeds, and agrochemicals, which leads to lower productivity and lower returns. “Agricultural policies and guidelines also need to be modernized to accelerate progress, empower farmers, and facilitate commercialization and private sector partnerships.”

IRRI, through several projects such as the Stress Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA) Green Super Rice (GSR), and more recently through ongoing projects like AGRRI 2 and several CGIAR programs, has helped release over 50 climate-resilient varieties, developed seed production and scaling models, and management innovations that substantially increased productivity in SSA.