Boosting Rice Production: Embracing Fresh Perspectives

T he Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Deve­ lopment, Alamine Ousmane Mey, has granted an audience to the Director General of AfricaRice and Regional Director for West and Cen­ tral Africa of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Re­ search (CGIAR), Dr. Baboucarr Man­ neh. The event took place yester­ day, September 10, 2026 in Yaounde. Dr Manneh said the audience focu­ sed on chatting partnership ave­ nues to increase rice production in Cameroon and achieve self-suffi­ ciency. He said tests conducted un­ der the Development and Economic Valuation of Investment in the Bé­ noué Vally (VIVA-Bénoué) project, in the North Region, identified three varieties yielding up to 10 tonnes per hectare under irrigation, compa­ red with five tonnes under rainfed conditions. “This shows that defini­ tely there is a capacity for Cameroon to really increase its rice production” he said. With the country’s current average yield at about 2.3 tonnes per hectare, the AfricaRice Director General stressed the need to scale up these technologies and make im­ proved seeds available to farmers. He identified seed multiplication, la­ ser land levelling, mechanisation and processing as priorities. Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey, on his part, welcomed the partnership, stressing that AfricaRice’s support would contribute to reducing...