SRI International Network and Resources Center

Featured Item: August 2012

August 14, 2012

REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON THE SYSTEM OF RICE INTENSIFICATION (SRI)
July 26-27, 2012
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

• Sub-Saharan Africa is facing major challenges related to climate change and assuring food security for its growing population, and they are predicted to intensify in the near future. Solutions are needed that can have a rapid impact, but are efficient and sustainable as well. In order to better define the role of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) as one of these solutions for the West African context, a workshop was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on July 26 and 27, 2012. The Regional Workshop on System of Rice Intensification of (SRI) was organized by the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD), the National Center of Specialization for Rice (WAAPP Mali) and SRI-Rice (Cornell University) within the framework of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP). Oxfam America sponsored participation for civil society representatives. The objective of the workshop was to define an approach for the integration of SRI in research and extension programs in the 15 Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) countries by 2015.

• More than 60 participants representing research organizations, extension services and civil society from 13 West African countries came together to share their experiences with applying the SRI methodology and to discuss the potential of this method of growing rice to boost productivity with fewer inputs while preserving the environment, improving food security in the region and increasing the competitiveness of locally produced rice in the market. The conference was the first step in developing a regional platform for adapting SRI practices to the different African rice cropping systems and scaling up SRI in West Africa. Styger is part of a new task force to respond to WECARD's invitation to develop a commissioned proposal for scaling up SRI across West Africa.

  For more information see ChronicleOnline article, PowerPoint presentations from the workshop, and video interviews with participants. (Additional interviews will be added in the coming weeks).

• Background of the Workshop

  Beginning in 2001, small-scale trials supported by technical and funding partners, including USAID, FAO and numerous NGOs (ECHO-Volunteer, Africare, World Vision, and others) have been conducted with SRI methods in West Africa by national teams (producers, extension workers and researchers). The primary countries that have experimented with SRI include Benin, Burkina Faso, The Gambia,Guinea, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. The average yields obtained are between 7.5 t / ha to 11 t / ha compared to 2 to 5 t / ha forconventional practices.

  Since 2007, several groups in Mali have carried out SRI evaluation and expansion through a more programmatic approach that generated average yields of 7.5 to 9 t/ha, equivalent to more than 50% increase with peaks of 12 t/ha (see photo from Bagadadji, Timbuktu, Mali, at left). The main partners involved in the programs in Mali were Africare, the USAID-funded Integrated Initiatives for Economic Growth project (IIEG) in Mali, the Syngenta Foundation and the World Bank. 

  World Bank/World Bank Institute expands knowledg-sharing through videoconference
  On February 9, 2010, the World Bank/World Bank Institute organized a videoconference on SRI to share the experiences that are being conducted in India, Madagascar and Mali. This conference first focused on experience-sharing with farmers in Mali, field workers, researchers and representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture. A second videoconference included discussions and exchanges between Indian technicians with significant SRI experience and producers from Madagascar that have a long history of using SRI methods. This conference served to inform a great number of Malian decision-makers on the results already obtained in Mali, to promote the Malian experience in an international framework and to discuss the added value of SRI for food security, water conservation and adaptation to climate change.

  Expanding Agribusiness and Trade Promotion (E-ATP) Project expands on SRI promotion through workshops and trainings
  While SRI is being carried out in many West African countries, however, documentation is lacking. As a result, the USAID-funded Expanding Agribusiness and Trade Promotion (E-ATP) project organized a sub-regional information and sharing workshop in Mali during August 2010 to highlight the SRI achievements of the IICEM project (Mali). Seven countries participated in this workshop: Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. Training workshops were also organized in 2011 and 2012 in each of the following countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Benin and Togo. These actions combined with that of other stakeholders translated into a dynamics of expansion of the SRI in West Africa.

  West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) and National Centers of Specialization (NCOS)
  The West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) is a program funded by the World Bank (IDA) that aims to make agriculture more productive and sustainable while favoring regional integration in the ECOWAS region.  It specifically provides a subregional framework on the basis of which ECOWAS countries collaborate to implement the national and regional agricultural strategies for technology generation and dissemination. The general objective of the WAAPP is to contribute to the sustainable increase in the productivity of the participating countries’ key priorities. As part of the implementation of the WAAPP, a number of countries have implemented National Centers of Specialization (NCOS) for strategic research and research and development, which represent an important initiative for the strengthening of regional and international scientific cooperation on a priority speculation.

  Among the key priorities, rice and rice-based systems occupy an important and strategic place. Since 2009, Mali has chosen to host the CNOS-Rice with the aim to "develop and disseminate proven technological innovations to improve the productivity and competitiveness of rice value chains in West Africa."

  Based on the early positive impacts observed in Mali, CNOS-RICE became interested in the System of Rice Intensification in 2010 and began working on it in cooperation with the Delegation of the Syngenta Foundation in Mali and others. The Center became involved in the organization of the recent regional SRI workshop in Burkina Faso after a series of meetings in West Africa and Washington DC involving CNOS, SRI-Rice (Cornell University), Syngenta Foundation, CORAF/WECARD and WAAPP country representatives.  Following these discussions, WAAPP/CNOS-Rice and Cornell University were given the mandate to extend the national workshop scheduled in Mali to the whole subregion so as to transform it into a regional workshop on the SRI.  While the participants were originally preparing for the organization of a national workshop in Mali, the venue was later changed to Burkina Faso for the regional event following civil unrest in Mali. The resulting workshop was deemed a success by participants and made significant progress towards its objectives to develop a roadmap and define an approach for mainstreaming and scaling up SRI in West Africa.