NAIROBI, July 25 (HANA)--The first-ever Africa Rice Congress will be held in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania from next week, organizers said on Tuesday.

   The African Rice Congress to be held from July 31-August 4 will bring together about 300 scientists, socio-economists, policy makers and civil society representatives from all over the world to chart the way forward for future rice research and development in order to contribute to achieving the millennium development goals.

  The Africa Rice Centre (WARDA) together with key research organizations has jointly organized the meeting to address the challenges faced in rice production and productivity in Africa, said a statement from Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research said.

   “The Congress will undertake a comprehensive review of past successes and experiences in rice development and explore ssustainable intensification and diversification strategies for African rice-based cropping systems,” the statement said.

  The Rice Congress comes at a time when the demand for rice in Africa is growing faster than anywhere else in the world, at about 6 percent per annum.

   Rice is fast gaining an ever-greater importance in the staple diets of Africa, and even in Eastern and Southern Africa, where rice is not a traditional source of food, the annual per capita consumption has reached 15 kg, according to latest statistics.

  Africa is as a result being forced to import rice to meet the ever-growing demand, imports having increased by 8.4 percent per annum between 1995 and 2001.

   Sub-Saharan Africa now accounts for 20 percent of total world rice imports, which costs the region more than 1.2 billion US dollars annually.
   During the last 10 years, there have been some remarkable scientific successes in rice research in Africa, such as the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) breakthrough for dryland cropping, made by the Africa Rice Center (WARDA).