Guinea-Bissau, February 2024

Working week for revising NRDS

Background

Four years after the inception of CARD Phase 2 (2019-2030), Guinea-Bissau has recently finalized its second generation of the National Rice Development Strategy (ENDA 2) with its approval and validation in the workshop that took place on February 5, 2024, at Hotel Lisboa in Bissau.

Methodology

The workshop started with opening remarks from the Director General of Agriculture and Planning and the Technical Coordinator of CARD. This was followed by the presentation of the NRDS2 (ENDA2) chapter-by-chapter. Following the presentation, there was a suggestion to emphasize the need for the inclusion of improvement of the seed control laboratory which was welcomed. After this amendment, the ENDA2 document was unanimously approved and validated.

Following validation of ENDA2, the reporter refreshed the participants on the general overview of the CARD initiative as well as on the process of formulation of Project Concept Notes using the Excel Information Sheet of Concept Notes based on Sub-sector/Intervention Elements Matrices (SIEM) and the RICE approach for the CARD Phase 2 and guided them on the identification of priority themes emerging from the revised NRDS2. Four breakout groups were also organized to discuss specific issues such as a) Fertilizers and Pesticides, b) Construction of irrigation infrastructures for rice production, c) Rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure for rice production, d) Agricultural mechanization for rice production, e) Dissemination of adapted rice production techniques, f) Increase capacity for seed quality control, g) Increasing Rice Production through Pre-Basic and Basic Rice Seeds, h) Development of high-yielding rice varieties adapted to irrigation conditions in the ‘Bas-Fonds and salinity-tolerant varieties”. At the end of the workshop on day 9 (February 9, 2024), the participants came up with a total of eight concept notes covering the main priorities of the ENDA2 as shown in the table below.

Apart from the elaboration of Concept Notes, three parallel activities were organized namely, a visit to the Office of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, a field visit to Bolanha de Safim, and a Kick-off meeting with the team that will be responsible for collecting data and set-up the ENDA2 M&E baseline indicators starting in 2018 up to 2030.

Visit to the Office of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

The visit to the office of the Minister of Agriculture took place on February 5, 2024. After the welcome address by the Minister, the Permanent Secretary, and accompanying staff briefed the visitors (CARD Technical Coordinator, JICA-Senegal Program Officer, and the reporter) on the GNB rice sector. During their explanation, it was emphasized that rice is an important crop for food and nutritional security with per capita consumption of about 130 kg per annum corresponding to approximately 318,148 tonnes against national production of 118,885 tonnes, forcing the country to resort to imports of 188,174 tonnes to cover the estimated deficit costing the country about 74 million dollars a year. According to MADR high-level officials, the root causes of this situation lie in poor or non-existent production infrastructures, equipment, and missing links in the rice value chain. The speakers concluded with an appeal to CARD to help in the design of results-oriented projects while the Government commits itself to undertaking necessary measures to create a conducive environment for the participation of private and small-scale farmers in rice production.

Visit to Bolanha de Safim

The visit to Bolanha de Safim took place on February 7, 2024, with the participation of the CARD Technical Coordinator, the JICA Senegal Representative, the Director General of Agriculture and Planning, and the reporter. The visited site is characterized by a typical mangrove ecosystem where farmers grow rice under a severe salinity environment. The soils are saline by nature which is aggravated by the intrusion of saline water from the river Gabu. The production system consists of transplanting in ridges to minimize the effect of salt on the rooting system of the rice plants. This requires a well-functioning drainage system to control the water table as well as the water flash from the river. This, in turn, requires significant investments as proposed in the concept note regarding the “construction of irrigation infrastructures”.

Kick-off meeting for the M&E data collection

The Kick-off meeting for the M&E data collection consisted of the identification of MADR technicians who will be responsible for undertaking this activity. This was followed by a thorough presentation and discussion of the methodology and guiding instruments provided by the CARD Secretariat such as Monitoring and evaluation of NRDS in CARD, Overview of CARD’s M&E indicators and targets, Characteristics of CARD M&E indicators and Main M&E activities in CARD member countries including the establishment of an M&E framework appropriate to the contexts of the respective countries and to carry out an M&E baseline study. It was emphasized that the expected results should include a) a final report with reference values for 12 indicators and retail price per country, b) conducting annual M&E monitoring surveys until 2030; to be carried out by each country’s NRDS monitoring team and, c) organize an annual rice sector review meeting (annually or every two years).

Key Outputs/Results

During the working week, the ENDA Task Force formulated concept notes based on the recently approved ENDA2. At the end of the workshop, the participants came up with a total of eight concept notes covering the main priorities of the ENDA as shown in the table below.

List of Proposed Concept Notes

N°	Title of Project	Duration
1	Increasing seed quality control capacity	5 Years	2 Million USD
2	Increasing Rice Production through Pre-Basic and Basic Rice Seeds	7 Years	15Million USD
3	Development of high-yielding rice varieties adapted to irrigation conditions in the Bas-Fonds and salinity-tolerant varieties	6 Years	5 Million USD
4	Dissemination of adapted rice production techniques	4 Years	8,3 Million USD
5	Agricultural mechanization for rice production	6 Years	254 Million USD
6	Promotion of the correct use of agrochemicals	10 Years	20 Million USD
7	Construction of irrigation infrastructure for rice production	8 Years	160 Million USD
8	Rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure for rice production	4 Years	86 Milhões USD
	GRAND TOTAL		550,3 Million USD

Way forward

The drafts of Concept Notes will be submitted for consideration by higher authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Following this, the Concept Notes will be shared with potential donors to seek financial support. The Focal Point and the Task Force team are expected to organize the Annual Rice Sector Review Meeting in April 2025.