LOS BAÑOS, PHILIPPINES (9 June 2025) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and CGIAR, with support from the Gates Foundation, today launched a new initiative to boost investments in sustainable and low-carbon rice production with the aim of improving the lives of millions of vulnerable smallholder farmers across Asia and the Pacific.
Rice is the lifeblood of the region. It feeds more than half the population daily and is the cornerstone of livelihoods for millions of rural poor. Yet rice farming faces mounting pressure, from declining productivity and shrinking water supplies to its significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. Left unaddressed, these challenges threaten food security and the well-being of the poorest and most vulnerable communities.
“Rice is essential to food security in Asia, supplying over a quarter of the region’s calorie intake, and half in Southeast Asia. For hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers, rice is not just food, it is their livelihood. Today, that livelihood is increasingly threatened by extreme weather and environmental degradation,” said ADB Vice-President for Sectors and Themes Fatima Yasmin.