In Niger, rice is the third most important cereal crop after millet and sorghum, in terms of both surface area and production. It plays an important role in the country's economy. Local rice covers around 30% of the country's needs, and many families make their living directly from its production.
Despite sustained efforts to improve the sector's performance, it must be said that there is still a gap between strong demand (7%/year) and production (3%).
To meet these challenges, the State of Niger, in collaboration with its development partners and the main players in the rice sector, has drawn up a National Rice Development Strategy (SNDR).
As part of its support for the implementation of this strategy's action plan, the Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) has financed several activities, including the process of setting up the national section of the Niger Rice Observatory.
Once set up, the National Rice Observatory of Niger (ONAR-Niger) is a platform that will provide a voice and a space for dialogue for national stakeholders in the sector, with a view to increasing the local impact in terms of sustainability and competitiveness in the rice sector.
To date, the following activities have been carried out as part of this process:
- Setting up a taskforce made up of stakeholders and responsible for operationalising the process of setting up Niger's national Chapter of the Rice Observatory;
- Carrying out a study on the mapping of stakeholders in the Niger rice sector;
- Validation of the results of the study at a national workshop attended by all the stakeholders (players from the various links in the chain, institutional players, projects and programmes);
- Niger's participation in an exchange visit to South Korea organised under the aegis of the World Bank, the Republic of South Korea and other regional institutions (ERO, ARAA). The aim of the visit was to learn from Korea's experience in developing the rice sector and to identify opportunities for collaboration with West Africa. It provided an opportunity to discuss the development of the rice sector with researchers, developers, extension workers and producers.
- The PRSA Niger financed an exchange trip to Ouagadougou to discuss Burkina Faso's experience in setting up a national rice observatory for the permanent secretariat of the SNDR.
FSRP Niger plans to finance an Organisation of a retreat workshop to update the NRDS action plan; the organisation of regional workshops and the organisation of a national workshop to elect the members of the Governing Board and the technical working committee of the rice observatory in Niger.
