1.
Improving Productivity of Rice under Water Scarcity in
Africa: The case for the System of Rice Intensification
Presentation by:
Prof. Bancy M. Mati
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology
(JKUAT); Kenya
at the:
International Rice Development Conference and
Seminar on China-Africa Rice Development
Changsha, China
June 26 to 29, 2019

2.
WATER SCARCITY IN AFRICA
It's more about economic water scarcity
than physical water scarcity

3.
Africa Has Ample Water Resource Endowments

4.
The water that Africa has, quantified
• Africa has about 4,000 cu km of
freshwater.
• There are 17 major rivers with
catchment areas > 100 000 km2
• There are 160 lakes > 27 km2
• Mean annual rainfall: 670 mm/yr
• Highly variable rainfall, from
<100 mm in deserts to more than
2,000 mm in rainforests & highlands
• Huge hydropower potential
of about 1,750 TWh (12% of
the global capacity)
• Vast groundwater resources
• The continent is surrounded by
three oceans: vast marine water

5.
Africa when conditions are conducive…
Agricultural productivity supports sustainable livelihoods
5

6.
But water is poorly distributed -- spatially & temporally
Map of Africa showing Rainfall excesses and deficits
Source: UNEP, 2010
Deserts
Big rivers

7.
• About 65% of Africa’s land
area is comprised of drylands
(annual rainfall 100-800 mm)
• Rainfall is erratic, droughts,
floods & high runoff losses
• High runoff losses -- over 50%
of rainfall is lost
• High evaporation losses --
up to x 10 annual rainfall
• Poorly distributed surface
water resources (rivers, lakes)
• Renewable water resources
constitute only about 20%
of total rainfall.
Vast drylands, low rainfall, and water losses

8.
Groundwater resources remain un-mapped & untapped
Source: WHYMAP (2008) Groundwater resources of the world.

9.
Africa is getting warmer: Climate Change is here!
• Africa is warmer by 0.5°C than it was 100 years ago
• The six warmest years recorded in Africa have occurred since 1987
• 7 droughts in 1980-1990 and then 10 droughts in 1991-2003
• Between 2000-2006, there were 60 weather- related disasters
• Both floods and droughts have increased
9

10.
Climatic extremes are on the increase
Flooding in Mozambique after Cyclone Kenneth, April 2019

11.
Climate Change is also Affecting Water Towers
Satellite image comparing Mount
Kilimanjaro’s glaciers between 1976 & 2006
• Since 1912, the ice caps on Mt.
Kilimanjaro have decreased by
between 50 to 80%
Mt. Kilimanjaro glaciers in 1976
Mt. Kilimanjaro glaciers in 2006

12.
Economic water scarcity: Poorly developed infrastructure
• Only about 4% of Africa's renewable
water resources have been developed
• Total annual withdrawals are only 5.5%
of internal renewable resources.
• Water withdrawals for agriculture account
for 3.3% of total renewable water

13.
Then there are shrinking water bodies, e.g. Lake Chad

14.
As a result, rural livelihoods are badly affected
Crops suffer moisture stress Livestock suffer due to drought
Flooded rangeland vs same rangland in dry season

15.
Current
Enablers Moving forward - Enablers
Building partnerships for
financing, marketing
Smart Financing, with co-
investment by private
entities
Improved access to
credit
Water productivity (income per
drop), increased production, and
improved value chains
Food and nutrition
security
WHAT THE SMALL-SCALE FARMERS NEED….

16.
Rice Production under Water
Scarcity Conditions

17.
Importance of Rice: Globally & in Africa
Share of rice of total calories consumed (Source: FAO and World Bank 2010)

18.
IRRIGATED AREA IN THE WORLD
2005/2007 and 2050 (million ha)
6/28/19 18
Source: World Agriculture Towards 2030-2050
As a result, Africa imports US$20 billion worth of food each year

19.
Agro-ecological and water management systems for rice
Source: Breeding Rice for Drought-Prone
Environments(IRRI: International Rice
Research Institute, 2003)
With bund only rainfall With bund and irrigationNo bund, only rainfall

20.
International Research Organizations on Rice in Africa
i. Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice)
ii. Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and
Central Africa (ASARECA)
iii. Bioscience East and Central Africa (BECA)
iv. Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD)
v. West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and
Development (CORAF)
vi. CGIAR’s Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP)
vii. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS)
viii.International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) - (HRDC Hybrid Rice
Development Consortium)
ix. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
x. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
xi. International Network for Genetic Evaluation of Rice (INGER)
xii.Inland Valley Consortium (INC)
xiii.International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
xiv. Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)

21.
Africa’s Demand for Rice is Growing
• Demand for rice is increasing
at about 4-5% per year
due to urbanization and
changing dietary habits
• Africa rice production is about
26.4 million tons of paddy or
17.3 million tons of milled rice.
• Rice is grown in 38 African
countries - but all countries
are net importers of rice
• SSA imports 10 million tons
of milled rice
21

22.
22
Wastes waterand has low yields
• Rice yields are low-- less
than 3 t/ha vs. potential
up to 15 t/ha
• Traditional practices
result in low rice yields
• Water management
challenges, from scarcity
to poor drainage
• Low-yielding landraces –
need for hybrid rice
Conventional flooded paddy cultivation:

23.
Other challenges facing the rice sector in Africa
1. Fragmented rice value-chain
2. Lack of adequate rice milling facilities
3. High production costs
4. Low use of agricultural inputs (rice farmers have
little or no access to farm inputs such as fertilizers
and hybrid seeds)
5. Poor mechanization
6. Lack of adequate human resources in the rice
value-chain
7. Poor infrastructure (weak market information, high
costs of processing, poor roads and networks
8. Inappropriate policy environment
Source: Feeding Africa, UNECA, 2015

24.
The System of Rice Intensification
Responding with sustainable solutions to water scarcity

25.
What is the System of Rice Intensification (SRI)?
• SRI is a set of practices that improves
productivity of rice grown in paddies.
• The SRI concept is based on the premise
of “growing more rice with less water.“
• Moreoptimalpracticeswillproducebetter,more
robustphenotypesfromagivengenotype
25

26.
26
What SRI is Not
• SRI is NOT a new type of rice.
• It is NOT a new rice variety
• SRI is not GMOs
• It does not modify the genetic make-up of rice.
• SRI is also NOT about growing upland rice varieties,
although upland varieties can also benefit from SRI.
• While rice is an aquatic plant, SRI has shown that
rice crops do not have to be grown in continuously
flooded paddies.

27.
Major Components of SRI
Conventional flooded nursery
SRI: younger seedlings, just 2 leaves
1. Raise seedlings in un-flooded nurseries, well-supplied with
organic matter, 2. Transplant younger seedlings; i.e. at 8 to 12 days
X
SRI has seven major components (deviating from conventional flooded paddy)

28.
Early transplanting, at wider spacing under SRI
Transplanting conventional Transplanting SRI young seedlings
flooded paddy seedlings at wider spacing
X
3. SRI involves transplanting only one seedling per hill (NOT in
clumps of 3-5 seedlings),
4. Seedlings are transplanted at wider spacing in a square pattern
• SRI uses less seed& farmers save up to 80% of the cost of seed

29.
Water management: SRI saves over 30% irrigation water
5. Alternate wetting and
drying of the paddy field
(do not continuously flood
the soil) to ensure good
aeration of the root zone

30.
Weeding is preferably mechanized under SRI practice
Weeding SRI paddy with rotary weeder
Women weeding conventional rice paddy
6. Weed control is preferably done
with a simple mechanical rotary
weeder.
This aerates the soil as it eliminates
weeds, improving root vigour and
enhancing the life in the soil
Rotary weeding saves up to 75% on
labor costs compared to manual
weeding
X

31.
Organic fertilization under SRI
7. SRI utilizes organic manures or
fertilizers to the extent
possible; chemical fertilizer
only when and where needed
6/28/19
31
More reliance on of organic
manures saves on the costs
of fertilizers; improves soil
health and fertility

32.
Common practices for both conventional and SRI
• Land preparation (tillage,
rotavation, levelling)
• Crop protection against pests and
Diseases (preferably IPM)
• Draining paddy at crop maturity
• Harvesting
• Post-harvest processing

33.
33
Why SRI is Win-Win Technology for Africa

34.
JKUAT Research has Shown that SRI Works
1. Ph.D. student is assessing SRI for up-
scaling in Mwea irrigation scheme.
- Using AQUACROP model to predict
scheme-level grain yields, amounts of
water saved, and cost/benefit analysis.
2. M.Sc. assessed adaptability of SRI in
Mwea - completed
3. M.Sc. assessed the effects of SRI
on mosquito survival rates.
4. M.Sc. has assessed bio-physical characteristics
of four schemes; Mwea, Ahero, West Kano,
and Bunyala for SRI adaptability
5. M.Sc. is assessing impacts of labour SRI
6. Other MIAD research on SRI spacings
Mosquito trap in research plot
Measuring water input in a research plot

35.
6/28/19
Participatory Research (SRI Farmer trials)
SRI
farmer
trials
Innovations
by farmers

36.
Under SRI, rice yields have Increased
More productive panicles, higher yields
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 Week4s after 5transpl6anting7 8 9
Numberoftillersperhill
Growth pattern for the tillers under SRI and CF
S…

37.
Results show that SRI improves rice productivity
Key findings – based on farmers’ data from Mwea, Kenya
SRI rice cultivation
1. Basmati yields : 7 – 10 t/ha
2. BW rice yields: 11 - 20 t/ha
3. Bag of paddy weighs 100-110 kg
4. Uses 25-33% less water
5. Grains are harder, not easily
broken in milling
5. Plants have strong stems resisting
damage from rain and wind
6. Weeding can be done by men or
women; easier with weeder
7. Higher returns (30-50% increase
in net income)
37
Conventional paddy
1. Basmati yields : 4 – 5 t/ha
2. BW rice yields : 7 - 10 t/ha
3. Bag of paddy weighs 80-90 kg
4. Water to grow 1 kg of rice =
3,000-5,000 litres
5. Grains easily break during milling
6. Flooded paddies suffer lodging
from windy storms
7. Weeding flooded paddies is done
by women; difficult work
8. Lower return on investment

38.
Water savings comparing SRI with
conventional flooded paddy in Mwea, Kenya
*Rainfall water was drained from SRI plots, hence lower than that in the CF plots
Source: Omwenga et al., 2014
Rainfall
(m3/ha)
Irrigation
water
(m3/ha)
Water use
(m3/ha)***
Water
produc-
tivity
(kg/m3)
Savings on
irrigation
water (%)
Variety SRI CF SRI CF SRI CF SRI CF
Basmati 370 613* 2,821** 8,422 11,610 9,035 14,431 0.7 0.4 27.5
BW 196 696* 3,464** 11,573 15,691 12,269 19,155 0.5 0.2 26.2
IR 2793-80-1 613* 2,644** 10,420 15,096 11,033 17,740 1.0 0.5 31.0

39.
Mosquito larvae are eliminated under SRI management
compared with flooded conditions
%EMERGENCE
Source: Kepha Omwenga - MSC progress report
MOSQUITO DATA FOR SRI CONDITIONS
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
DRYING DAYS % Emerged from depression
% emerged from observation dish

40.
Costs of inputs are reduced under SRI
45000
40000
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
Costofinputs(KShs/ha)
Cost components
SRI FP
Inputs costs comparing SRI with flooded paddy (FP) practices at Mwea
(Source: Ndiiri et al., 2014)

41.
Extension (Capacity building)
• Field visits with ToT training
• Hands-on training of farmers
• Training of trainers (ToT)
• Special training for women
• Field days according to crop
agronomy
• Invited trainers supported by
WBI-trained staff & SRI farmers
from India & Japan
• Exchange visits for farmers &
staff
• Some 10,00 farmers have
adopted SRI in Kenya
41

42.
42
6/28/4219
Field Days & Open Days for SRI Training
SRI field day in Mwea
SRI Open Day - all stakeholders SRI field day (transplanting)
SRI field day in Bunyala

43.
Awareness creation & Outreach
• Open days with invited guests
• Displays in the Nairobi
International Show
• Media outings
• Radio broadcast/adverts in
vernacular languages
• Engaging with private sector,
e.g. rice millers
• Scientific papers & forums
• Presenting SRI at exhibitions and
other forums
• SMS messaging as a mode of
extension
• Marketing of SRI-branded rice in
the new project
SRI Exhibits at Nairobi Show
2012
SRI Display at African Forum –President Kibaki -2012

44.
Up-scaling SRI in Ahero, Bunyala , West Kano & SW Kano
SRI Training in Ahero Scheme SRI training in West Kano Scheme
SRI Training in Bunyala SchemeVideo Conference

45.
Quality of Milled SRI Rice is Superior
6) SRI rice has a harder grain,
thus less breakage during
milling.
7) This results in better grain
quality, so it sells faster at
slightly higher price.
8) Millers prefer SRI due to
higher recovery of
whole grains
9) SRI rice weight heavier
than conventional paddy

46.
Note: SRI has superior milling qualities in all the categories
Findings of SRI vs Conventional Paddy Milling Test
SRI rice is Super Grade!!
Properties SRI Conve
ntional
SRI
Advantage
Head rice (%) 90 81 +9
(+11%)
White rice (Kgs) 631 594 +37
(+6%)
Recovery (%) 63 59 +4
(+7%)
Broken (Kgs) 37 56 -19
(-34%)
Chicken feed
(Kgs)
4.4 5.5 -1.1
(-20%)
Bran/dust (Kgs) 79 101 -22
(-22%)
Colour sorter
(Kgs)
1.5 1.9 -0.4
(-21%)

47.
Some Major Challenges Faced in Promoting SRI
•Farmers’ skepticism
•More weeds under SRI
•Shortage of rotary weeders
•Lack of funding
•Shortage of SRI trained staff
•Lack of SRI value-chain.

48.
Countries which have started SRI in Africa
Some 21 countries have adopted SRI in Africa, including:
Country . Country
1. Madagascar where SRI originated 12. Mali
2. Benin 13. Mozambique
3. Burkina Faso 14. Niger
4. Burundi 15. Nigeria
5. Cameroon 16. Rwanda
6. Cote d’Ivore 17. Senegal
7. Dem. Rep. Congo 18. Sierra Leone
8. Ethiopia 19. Tanzania
9. Guinea 20. The Gambia
10. Kenya 21 Togo
11. Liberia

49.
Why an SRI-Africa Network
• The scientific basis for adoption of SRI has been proven in
many countries in Africa, large published literature.
• The main gap is knowledge flows -- upwards to reach
policy makers, and laterally to reach more farmers and
extension workers
• Because… Africa is a continent fragmented by national
boundaries, languages, geographic zones, and cultural
differences
• Technological divides between scientists and farmers,
hence missed opportunities
• There has been no one-stop-shop knowledge management
platform for bringing together SRI community in Africa
• Networks break these barriers and help establish human
resource pools, for contacts, for specific needs/facilities

50.
SRI-AFRICA Knowledge Portal established at JKUAT
Main Objective: Build a vibrant Africa-wide Community of
Practice on SRI, for knowledge-sharing, advocacy and action --
create an African voice for SRI
More specifically:
a) Build SRI-Africa Network for peer support with a
platform for learning and knowledge-sharing on SRI
b) Gather, contribute to, share, and utilize knowledge and
best practices on SRI to facilitate informed choices
c) Resource mobilization to support SRI actions
d) Implement programmes/projects & activities that lead to
upscaling of SRI – including meetings, exchange visits, etc.
e) Work towards establishing national SRI networks that can
implement projects – first, develop national workshops
which then culminate in an Africa-wide SRI network
We have already developed a web portal for knowledge-sharing
– credit to Cornell University (SRI-Rice) baseline database
Website for knowledge-sharing: www.sri-africa.net

51.
51 6/28/19
Taking SRI to the Next Level:
Growing more rice with less water
• Train extension workers to support SRI farmers
• Innovative ways to encourage farmers to adopt SRI
• Develop rotary weeders suited to local conditions
and facilitate their availability
• Conduct more research to assist informed choices
• Create a value chain for SRI, e.g. branding
• Expand SRI to all rice growing areas in Africa to
grow more rice with less water!
• Need to introduce hybrid rice under SRI – for
Higher Yields = China-Africa collaboration.

52.
www.sri-africa.net
6/28/19
THANK YOU