In progress
4 years (2022 - 2026)
Food security
Climate resilience of communities
Smallholder rice farmers
Private sector
Civil society
Scaling up climate-resilient rice production in West Africa - RICOWAS
West Africa is one of the regions most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to a strong dependence on rainfed agriculture and limited economic and institutional capacities to cope with these impacts.
Rice, a staple crop, holds a central place and plays a decisive role in food security for both rural and urban populations. Yet, despite the Rice Offensive launched by the Economic Community of West African States, yields remain low, even with the existence of insufficiently disseminated and weakly adopted climate-resilient rice production techniques.
RICOWAS was designed with the ambition of introducing and scaling up an innovative approach to rice production, tailored to withstand the effects of climate change and to strengthen regional food security.
The project’s main objectives are to enhance climate resilience and increase the productivity of rice farming systems for smallholder farmers across West Africa, through the promotion and implementation of climate-resilient rice production approaches adapted to changing conditions.
In addition, the project seeks to strengthen the resilience and capacities of smallholder rice farmers, support the implementation and scaling up of Climate-Resilient Rice Production (CRRP), sustain a communication platform to foster effective knowledge sharing, and promote the creation of a coalition of partners at both national and regional levels.
- Adaptation Fund - AF
- West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development - CORAF
- Cornell University - USA
- Institut d'Economie Rurale - IER
- Regional Training of Trainers Workshop: Held from April 1 to 5, 2024, in Grand-Lahou, Côte d'Ivoire, this workshop brought together 39 highly qualified master trainers. The goal was to disseminate knowledge on the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), Climate Resilient Rice Production (CRRP) practices, and the environmental and socio-economic challenges linked to rice cultivation.
- Scaling up SRI and CRRP Practices: Large-scale deployment of SRI and CRRP techniques was undertaken, accompanied by the training of 1,000 national workers to ensure widespread adoption.
- Establishment of Demonstration Plots: Demonstration plots were set up across project areas to train smallholder rice farmers in SRI and CRRP techniques. These plots also served as training grounds for organic fertilizer production, compost making, and the processes of rice seed production, quality control, and certification.
- Capacity Building for Implementing Entities: Technical capacities of the implementing entities were strengthened through the provision of equipment, enabling them to effectively carry out their field operations and missions.
- Launch of National Consultations: National consultations were initiated to establish the project’s baseline and identify the capacity-building needs of various stakeholders, with a particular focus on the final beneficiaries.