In Togo, rice plays an increasingly important role in people's diets and is a strategic issue for national food security. Despite favourable agro-ecological potential and strong local demand, rice yields remain low overall. This situation is largely due to two major constraints: insufficient control over land management, particularly in lowland areas and irrigated perimeters, and the difficulty of access to quality inputs (certified seeds and fertilizers). These factors considerably limit the productivity of producers, reduce the profitability of farms and hinder the emergence of this value chain. Faced with these challenges, rethinking agricultural development policies and strengthening mechanisms for distributing climate-smart agricultural inputs appear to be essential levers for sustainably boosting the rice sector in Togo.
To reverse this trend, the FSRP Togo has not only acquired and distributed inputs (improved seeds and fertilisers) but has also strengthened the capacity of rice growers in lowland management techniques and equipped them with intelligent ploughing equipment (power tillers).
By combining investment in equipment with institutional support, FSRP Togo is helping to make the rice sector a genuine lever for rural growth. Thanks to the distribution to date of 342.54 tonnes of certified rice seed and 2,569.05 tonnes of fertiliser (NPK 15 15 15 and urea) in the form of input credit, repayable in kind, to 34,254 rice growers, including 21,717 women (63.40%), the positive effects are beginning to be felt. The main results are an increase in average yields of between 5% and 8% per hectare and a 16% improvement in farmers' incomes. These encouraging results are the fruit of mechanisms put in place not only to improve farmers' access to agricultural inputs, but also to facilitate production monitoring, the collection of paddy rice at harvest and the marketing of surplus production by farmers. With this in mind, partnership agreements have been signed with several rice mills in Togo, such as the Tône rice mill in the Savanes region, which, thanks to this agreement, has increased its stock from 800 tonnes in 2020 to 2,000 tonnes in 2024, with the number of aggregated producers rising from 1,700 to 16,800 thanks to support from the FSRP.
In order to professionalise farming practices and promote sustainable land management (SLM) approaches, 640 rice farmers, including 59 women, have been trained in Smart Valleys, a low-cost, participatory approach aimed at improving rainwater retention and management to increase yields and crop resilience in the face of climate change. To facilitate the work of the trained farmers, the FSRP provided them with work kits for drawing up the plans and laying out the plots.
Decisive support from the FSRP for the establishment of Togo's National Rice Observatory (ONR-T)
Togo took another decisive step forward with the establishment of the National Section of the National Rice Observatory in December 2024. This initiative is part of a regional initiative supported by ECOWAS, aimed at improving governance, coordination and management of the rice sector in the country.
Thanks to the active collaboration of partner organisations and players in the value chain, the creation of this national body marks a turning point in the structuring of the sector.
The Togo National Rice Observatory (ONR-T) aims to coordinate investment in the rice sector, inform political decisions, collect regular data and communicate on the development of the rice value chain. Its objectives are to monitor and evaluate the production, processing and marketing of rice in Togo to improve performance; to facilitate coordination between public and private players and non-governmental organisations in order to develop partnerships and joint strategies to structure the sector; and to promote innovation and modern technologies to improve the productivity of rice farms, among other things. As for the outlook, it remains the operationalisation of the national section and the mobilisation of resources for the implementation of activities, the development and execution of the action plan and the resource mobilisation plan, the development and implementation of major projects for the structural transformation of the sector in line with regional prescriptions.
