Africarice showcases REWARD project and TAAT II Rice Compact success at the Rice Investment Roundtable in Accra

Picture 1: AfricaRice Director General, Dr Baboucarr Manneh (second from left to right), Board Chair, Emmanuel Sackey (first from right to left), staff and partners at the AfricaRice exhibition booth. (Credit: F. Francine, AfricaRice)

Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) reinforced its commitment to transforming Africa's rice sector through its prominent participation in the West Africa Rice Investment Roundtable held in Accra, Ghana, on 2–3 June 2026.

Organized by the ECOWAS Commission, the Government of Ghana, and the World Bank, the high-level forum culminated in $1.54 billion in immediate investment pledges and the signing of the Accra Declaration, a political framework endorsed by ministers from 14 countries committed to reshaping how West Africa produces, processes, and consumes rice.

The Accra Declaration sets bold benchmarks: doubling annual paddy production, raising yields from 2.1 to 4.1 tons per hectare, reducing post-harvest losses to below 10%, cutting import dependency to under 15%, and creating 15 million jobs across the rice value chain, with women and youth accounting for at least half of direct beneficiaries.

For investments of this scale to deliver lasting impact, they must be underpinned by rigorous, locally adapted science precisely where AfricaRice's mandate becomes critical. Research-backed solutions across seed systems, irrigation management, soil health, post-harvest technology, and market integration are the foundations on which bankable rice projects are built.

In this context, the REWARD-AfricaRice, West Africa Resilient Rice Value Chains Development program funded by the African Development Fund, emerges as a direct and operational response to the region's structural rice challenges. Designed to strengthen the entire rice value chain from production through processing and marketing, REWARD bridges the gap between research outputs and real investment opportunities on the ground.

According to Mr Richard Kwaku Ofori-Mante, Director, Agricultural Finance and Rural Development at the African Development Bank: “We need to move from ambition to execution at scale. At AfDB, agriculture and food transformation are central for development. Regional rice programs like REWARD are a flagship regional response to the challenges we face.”

AfricaRice Director General, Dr. Baboucarr Manneh, underscored the project's strategic relevance: "The REWARD project is precisely the kind of evidence-based, systems-level intervention that large-scale investment requires. It works directly with farmers, processors, and market actors to build the productivity, quality, and competitiveness that investors need to see before they commit capital.”

For AfricaRice, the leading pan-African center of excellence for rice research, development and capacity building, the roundtable is both welcome and timely. As the technical lead of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT II) Rice Compact, AfricaRice used the high-profile platform to showcase the remarkable achievements and impact of the project across Ghana's rice value chain. Through the TAAT II Rice Compact, AfricaRice and its implementing partner, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI), are addressing this challenge by scaling up improved rice technologies and strengthening local production systems.

The exhibition highlighted impressive project achievements, including the production and delivery of 450 kg of breeder seed, 27.8 tons of foundation seed, and 1,490 tons of certified seed. The project has also facilitated the development of a national Seed Road Map draft and established six innovation platforms to support sustainable growth within the sector.

A key feature of the exhibition was the participation of private-sector partners supported by the Rice Compact. Greenland Seeds Company showcased certified climate-resilient rice seed varieties that are helping farmers increase productivity, while the Rice Parboiling Processing Center, operated by a local women's group, demonstrated the benefits of the rice husk powered GEM (Grain quality enhancer, Energy efficient and durable Material) Parboiling System in improving rice quality, reducing post-harvest losses, and enhancing incomes and health outcomes for women processors and rice consuming population in general.

Through engaging product displays, multimedia presentations, and success stories from farmers and processors, AfricaRice demonstrated how strategic investments, innovation, and public-private partnerships are driving agricultural transformation. The Roundtable provided an important opportunity to position the REWARD-AfricaRice project and the TAAT II Rice Compact as catalysts for West Africa's rice self-sufficiency and broader agricultural and economic development.

Picture 2: B2B sessions between AfricaRice high-level delegation and West African countries. (Credit: F. Francine, AfricaRice)

The gathering also offers a B2B avenue for AfricaRice to engage with delegations of the 14 countries present to better address their specific requirements and ensure the advancement of the rice value chain in their explicit contexts.

The promise of a rice-sufficient West Africa by 2035 is ambitious. But with science-backed value chain development guiding where and how capital flows, it is within reach.

Learn more about AfricaRice vision for the continent rice sector:

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/6e681f_f6603af8b7a84bc585f13e26f98d9d83/480p/mp4/file.mp4