Africa Rice Center, Partners to boost sustainable rice farming across Africa
The innovative framework targets the untapped potential of inland valleys in sub-Saharan Africa, which holds significant promise for rice cultivation.
CÔTE D’IVOIRE – In a collaborative effort to enhance food security and agricultural resilience, the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), a CGIAR Center dedicated to rice research, has convened key stakeholders from sister organisations, development partners, and government representatives to co-create the SmartValleys Compendium.
The SmartValleys Compendium is a comprehensive guide designed to scale sustainable inland valley development for rice-based production systems across Africa.
Held on September 12, the workshop sought to refine and expand the SmartValleys approach, a low-cost, participatory, and nature-based methodology pioneered by AfricaRice.
This innovative framework targets the untapped potential of inland valleys in sub-Saharan Africa, where rainfed lowlands hold significant promise for rice cultivation but often suffer from poor water management and low yields.
Pioneering sustainable water management in rice valleys
SmartValleys emphasizes farmer-led design and construction of simple water-control infrastructure, such as bunds and drainage channels, tailored to local socio-economic and biophysical conditions.
By integrating indigenous knowledge with scientific insights, the approach ensures that developments are implemented within a single growing season, minimizing costs and fostering long-term ownership among communities.
Piloted successfully in countries like Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, SmartValleys has demonstrated transformative results.
In Benin, for instance, adopting the method increased rice yields by 0.9 tons per hectare and boosted farmers’ net income by US$267 per hectare, primarily through better water retention that reduces flood-related fertilizer losses and doubles overall productivity.
Similar successes are being scaled in Mali, where the technique is enhancing water management for rice cultivation amid climate challenges.
The new SmartValleys Compendium builds on these foundations, serving as a practical toolkit for policymakers, extension workers, and farmers. It compiles lessons learned, best practices, and scalable strategies to promote nature-based solutions that align with broader goals of food and nutrition security.
Participants in the co-creation session engaged in hands-on discussions, field visits to demonstration sites, and group planning exercises to ensure the document addresses regional variations and emerging needs.
AfricaRice, headquartered in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, plays a pivotal role in the continent’s rice sector, where demand is projected to rise sharply due to population growth.
The Center was created in 1971 by 11 African countries. Today its membership comprises 27 countries, covering West, Central, East and North African regions.
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