Newsletter, July 2025

Africa Rice Sector Update

CARD is a coalition of 32 Sub-Saharan African countries and 14 Development Partners.  We are working together to double rice production in Africa by Year 2030.

🌾 UNVEILING THE FUTURE OF RICE IN ANGOLA 

In Conversation with the National Focal Point of Angola National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS) Task Force team.

Angola is one of the countries that joined the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) in Phase 2 (2019 to 2030). It was at the beginning of this phase that Mr. Carlos Canza assumed the role of Focal Point, leading the combined initiatives of the public and private sectors, as well as development partners, aimed at developing the country’s rice industry. Under his leadership, the National Rice Development Strategy (ENDA) was reviewed and updated, as were the respective Concept Notes that form the basis for mobilising financial resources for the implementation of the Strategy.  The interview was conducted by the CARD Regional Advisor to raise awareness of the actions carried out by the Focal Point and his team to promote the rice value chain in Angola. 👉 Click here to the full article

🌾 UNLOCKING RICE POTENTIAL: REGIONAL/COUNTRY ACTIVITIES 

Elaboration of Concept notes: Strategically prioritized NRDS’s needs towards implementation in Uganda

The National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS) of Uganda has been revised and validated as a working document. Following this, the national rice development task force team organized a working week with support from the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) for the elaboration of concept notes to guide the implementation of the NRDS. However, there was the need to first conduct a comprehensive mapping of all actors along the rice value chain (RVC) and assess their current engagements in the sector.   👉Click here to the full article

Workshop on Monitoring & Evaluation of NRDS-2 in Kisumu, Kenya

Rice has become a mainstay of Kenya’s food system.  Increasing rice production is hence pivotal to food security and nutrition in Kenya.  With CARD’s technical assistance, Government of Kenya has formulated Second phase of National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS-2; 2019-2030).  The NRDS-2 aims to increase milled rice production by 6.6-fold from 128,000 tons to 846,000 tons to achieve self-sufficiency.  It plans to achieve this goal by increasing area under rice cultivation to 174,000 Ha and national average rice productivity to 4.8 t/Ha.  Resilience in production and supply (R), industrialization of the value chain (I), competitive local rice (C), and empowerment of stakeholders (E) are the underlying strategic approaches of Kenya’s NRDS-2. 👉Click here to the full article

Workshop on Monitoring & Evaluation of NRDS-2 in Rwanda

Rice production is increasingly important in Rwanda for both economic and food security reasons. As one of the country’s key staple crops, rice plays a critical role in improving household nutrition and reducing dependence on food imports. To help address the challenges in improving local rice production and reduce the import dependence of rice markets, the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), through technical and financial support of Coalition for Africa Rice Development (CARD), formulated the National Rice Development Strategy 2 (2021-2030). To appraise the implementation progress of the NRDS 2 during CARD phase 2 period, the NRDS taskforce (TF) established a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework comprising of 4 Overall (O), 3 Resilience (R), 4 Industrialization (I), 6 Competitiveness (C), 2 Empowerment (E) and Retail Price of rice (P) indicators to be conducted annually. In addition, an Annual Rice Sector Review Meeting (ARSRM) will be organized annually to share the progress of NRDS implementation with a wider range of stakeholders. Also, the ARSRM provides an opportunity for NRDS TF to share new and updated Concepts notes with potential funding sources such government, development partners and the private sector.  👉Click here to the full article

Validation Workshop of the NRDS II: A Strategic Turning Point for Reviving the Rice Sector in the Central African Republic

Bangui, May 28–29, 2025 The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) organized the national validation workshop for the National Rice Development Strategy – Phase II (NRDS II). Held at the AGETIP-CAF premises, the workshop brought together around thirty participants from public and private institutions, as well as technical partners, all united around a common goal: to provide the Central African Republic with a new strategic framework to sustainably revive its rice sector. The workshop was funded by IFAD.  👉Click here to the full article

Republic of the Congo: Progressive Structuring of the Rice Value Chain

As part of the same regional mission led by the CARD Secretariat and JICA, a series of strategic meetings were held in Brazzaville from July 17 to 18, 2025, to support rice sector development in the Republic of the Congo and prepare for the first annual sector review, scheduled for December 2025.

👉Click here to the full article

South Sudan Concept notes development: towards resource mobilization for NRDS

South Sudan is one of the newest countries to join the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD). Following its membership application and submission during the CARD 9th General Meeting (GM9) in Cote d’ivoire in 2023, the country established a National Rice Task Force (NRTF), which subsequently led to the formulation of its first National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS).

👉Click here to the full article

Check out all the recent developments on CARD activities. Our news includes coverage of major events and activities, programmes, and CARD engagement with its stakeholders. 👉Click here to see the news

To subscribe our newsletters 👉Click here to subscribe our monthly newsletters