Search site

Mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on domestic rice value chains and food security in West Africa

(Photo credit: Trade for Development News)

by Aminou Arouna, Guillaume Soullier, Patricio Mendez del Villar and Matty Demont

According to this article published on Trade for Development News by the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), rice plays a strategic role in food security in West Africa, however, the region increasingly relies on imports, and local value chains face constraints in terms of technology, finance, and coordination. The article suggests a set of short- to long-term measures to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on rice value chains in West Africa ranging from addressing the obstacle of access to inputs to supporting the upgrading of value chains.

Read the full article here.

This article is derived from two papers published in Global Food Security as a product of collaboration between the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD):

Aminou Arouna is Program Leader & Impact Assessment Economist at AfricaRice.

Guillaume Soullier is Researcher at CIRAD

Patricio Mendez del Villar is Senior Researcher at CIRAD.

Matty Demont is Senior Scientist at IRRI.