Transcript RICE POLICY IN AFRICA: WHAT WENT WRONG?

RICE POLICY IN AFRICA:
WHAT WENT WRONG?
BY
TUNJI AKANDE, YOUSSOUF CISE &
PATRICK KORMAWA
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INTRODUCTION
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Rice has been at the centre of policy attention in
West Africa since the 1970s. (Witness: formation of
West Africa Rice Development Association –WARDAin 1971).
Substantial investments, programmes and activities
were undertaken to promote local production of rice.
The results belied the efforts made and expectations
nursed. Africa today still depends on rice imports at a
scale never imagined.
Domestic production has not been quite successful.
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Questions
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What went wrong?
Why has Africa been unable to produce
enough rice to stem imports?
Why did the initial investments in
irrigation schemes and programmes for
rice fail?
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Objectives of the paper
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Review past policies and expectations
of rice development in Africa
Examine some case studied in selected
countries
Make proposals for improved policy
environment
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RICE DEMAND PROFILE IN
AFRICA
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The demand for rice in sub-Saharan Africa is growing
much faster than for any other grain.
Both the rich and the urban poor rely on rice as a
major source of calories.
Rice is no longer an occasional but regular meal.
Rice is being substituted for coarse grains and
traditional roots and tubers at an annual rate of
about 5% (FAO).
Urbanization, changes in employment patterns and
life style are the factors causing the increasing
demand for rice.
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Rice Policy Framework
Agricultural policy implies roles, procedures,
programmes, institutions and budgets which direct
public conduct in agriculture. Policy is used to:
 chart a path for development actions which public
officials should follow in agriculture.
 establish entitlements and the goals to be achieved;
 provide a mechanism for the public agencies to
articulate a course of action and organize society’s
scarce resources to achieve public good.
 allow decision makers to establish preferences and
organize programmes in line with available resources.
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Objectives pursued in the rice
sector
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Self sufficiency
Generation of income
Equitable distribution of income
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Policies enunciated
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Trade policies
Production/Input policies
Investment policies
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COUNTRY-LEVEL RICE POLICIES
(PRE-SAP SITUATION)
COTE D’IVOIRE
The country emphasized four types of
policies: research, institutional,
investment and pricing.
The research policies focused on using
technological improvements to
stimulate increased output of rice.
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Institutional policies targetted effective input delivery
and marketing of output. Treated seeds, fertilizers,
insecticides, equipment, land development, extension
services, maintenance of irrigation works and
mechanization were subsidised.
Investment policy involved long-term capital
development of irrigation projects in the savannah
zone to the north and the establishment of industrialscale rice mills.
Trade and domestic price policies were geared
towards ensuring fair and stable prices for local rice.
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SENEGAL
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The Senegalese government set an official
price for rice; defended with large quantities
of imports.
Later, rice policy focused on expanding
domestic production under more secure water
control system.
Rice policy also covered extension activities,
public investments in irrigation projects, and
input subsidies.
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MALI
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The Malian rice policy objectives were: selfsufficiency, security of food supplies,
improved rural incomes and nutrition.
Central instruments of policy were technical
improvement and investment in rice
production in the Office du Niger and in the
two main rice projects at Segou and Mopti.
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NIGERIA
The Nigerian rice sector showed certain
characteristics, namely:
 importation was massive and quality suffered;
 government was directly involved in
distribution and marketing of imported rice
and absorbed the associated marketing costs;
 urban consumption increased by 10% yearly.
 subsidy on fertilizer/other inputs but this was
not sufficient to offset the depression in
output prices because of cheap imports.
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Outcome of policies (Pre-SAP)
The policies pursued failed to achieve the objectives of
the various governments. This was because
 the objectives and the policies pursued were
conflicting, i.e., providing cheap food for consumers
and remunerative income for producers.
 poor management and execution of rice projects.
 Low productivity resulting in low rate of return of
large-scale irrigation investments, against
expectation and plans.
 The policies failed to establish comparative
advantage in rice production in most of the countries
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POST-SAP RICE POLICIES
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In the 1980s and early 1990s governments in West
Africa initiated macro-economic stabilization and
structural adjustment programmes.
The policy measures under SAP emphasized the role
of the market in shaping economic development. So,
SAP eliminated state intervention in most economic
activities, replacing the state with private sector.
Fiscal, monetary, wage and incomes policies as well
as trade and exchange rate measures were
introduced.
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Outcome of SAP policies
WARDA studies on the impact of SAP on rice
sector in Cameroon, Mali, Mauritanian, Niger,
Nigeria and Senegal confirmed that
 SAP reduced the role of state in production,
marketing and pricing. Private sector became
more important.
 SAP reduced producer incentives
 It reduced pressure on the national budgets.
 SAP improved competitiveness of local rice
and raised prospects of self-sufficiency.
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WHY RICE POLICIES IN AFRICA
ACHIEVED LITTLE SUCCESS
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Misplaced priority of African leaders at
independence who chose to adopt import
substitution strategy at the expense of agriculture
and food production.
Frequent changes in government as a result of
military coups across the continent. The result of
these changes had been changes in emphasis and
focus on the appropriate strategies to feed the
people. In most of the countries the changes in
policy direction had created lags in the
implementation of rice development programmes.
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WHY RICE POLICIES IN AFRICA ACHIEVED LITTLE SUCCESS (cont.)
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Lack of optimal policy mix. The price and
trade policies pursued were frequently being
changed even within the year as shown in the
case of Nigeria. This instability in policy
environment tended to create an unstable
investment environment for producers and
other stakeholders hoping to explore the
opportunities in the rice sector.
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WHY RICE POLICIES IN AFRICA ACHIEVED LITTLE SUCCESS (cont.)
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Gender bias as technological adaptations
and practices fail to pay sufficient attention to
the needs of womenfolk who perform most
tasks in rice production, processing and
marketing.
Gender insensitiveness in technology
development obstructs efficiency and
performance.
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WHY RICE POLICIES IN AFRICA ACHIEVED LITTLE SUCCESS (cont.)
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Poor quality of local rice prevents
sufficient consumer demand which could
serve as reason for increased production by
farmers. In addition, there is little price
differential between local and imported rice
to warrant consumers to sacrifice quality for
price incentive. The transaction costs
associated with local rice are substantial
because producing areas are different from
consuming centres.
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WHY RICE POLICIES IN AFRICA ACHIEVED LITTLE SUCCESS (cont.)
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Reliance
on
exotic
technology
(fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides). None
of the African rice-producing countries has
capacity to manufacture its requirement of
chemical inputs nor to import and distribute
enough quantities of inputs. Inputs prices
and transaction costs are high since these
inputs are found only in urban locations
which farmers have to visit to make
purchases.
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WHY RICE POLICIES IN AFRICA ACHIEVED LITTLE SUCCESS (cont.)
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Lack of sufficient quantities of
improved seed rice to meet the
planting needs of farmers across
various ecologies. This made a large
proportion of rice farmers to depend
on the traditional varieties which are
of low yield.
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WHY RICE POLICIES IN AFRICA ACHIEVED LITTLE SUCCESS (cont.)
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The high demand for labour by rice
activities as compared with other staple
crops which farmers also cultivate, even
at more lucrative returns tend to
discourage farmers from expanding
their rice holdings.
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PROSPECTS OF AFRICA
RICE INITIATIVE
Problems to watch out for:
 High cost of production
 Quality of rice produced
 Policy instability and uncertain market
environment
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What role for Africa Rice
Centre (WARDA)?
WARDA must
 generate appropriate production and processing
technologies to make rice produced in Africa
competitive.
 assist national governments to develop strategies
that create enabling market environment for Africa
rice.
 provide technical support and advice which individual
countries and regions require to expand rice
production.
 disseminate its technologies.
 promote national, regional and continental policy
dialogue on rice.
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CONCLUSION
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Rice consumption and development is
extending to all other parts of Africa, as a
deliberate state policy.
African governments must come up with an
optimal mix of policies which will promote
productivity, efficiency in resource allocation
and increased output.
The Africa Rice Centre (WARDA) should be at
the vanguard of this initiative given its
centrality in rice development and research in
the continent.
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION.
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MERCI!
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