India recently made the decision to restrict rice exports, which creates new dangers for food security in Africa. The export of white and brown rice was subject to a 20% duty as of September 9 and the selling of broken rice was outlawed.
The price of wheat, another important grain for Africans, had already been affected by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which is terrible news for Africa. Of sure, the situation worries Togo.
Togo First discovered that around 90% of the country’s rice imports come from India using data from Trade Map. Togo imported 201,363 t of rice from the Asian nation in just the previous year. This amount accounts for 88% of the 229,173 t of rice that the West African nation imported in 2021. India generates 40% of worldwide rice exports, making it the largest rice exporter in the world.
Togo is particularly troubled by India’s latest decision because local supply there only meets 32% of demand. Even worse, Togo’s rice production decreased by 3.5% last season.
Lekpa The Togolese minister of agriculture, Antoine Gbebeni, recently reported that the nation had a shortage of more than 88,600 t of white rice for the 2020–2021 growing season. In Togo, white rice ranks second in terms of grain consumption to maize.
Togolese authorities initiated a number of efforts, such as the National Rice Development Strategy (SNDR 2008-2018) and the National Agricultural, Food Security and Nutritional Investment Program, to address the nation’s white rice shortfall and meet the demand, which is continually increasing (PNIASAN). White rice imports increased from 113,585 t to 229,173 t between 2012 and 2021, although the imbalance continued to exist.
The government isn’t giving up, though. It produced a new strategy, the SNDR phase II, which covers the years 2019 through 2030. With this approach, the government hopes to develop irrigated areas including Kovié, Djagblé, Bas-Mono, and Koumbéloti as well as Planned Agricultural Development Zones (ZAAP in French).
In addition to these, the government stated that it will benefit financially from the reorganization of the Agricultural Financing Incentive Mechanism (MIFA).
According to Lomé, local paddy rice production would amount to 817,000 t by 2030, which is equivalent to around 500,000 t of white rice.
Local actors are calling for a comprehensive reform of the industry, which is dominated by wholesalers and significant importers like Ets Mawugnon and Elisee Cotranne from Togo, Louis Dreyfus from France, and Olam from Singapore.
“Importers and wholesalers hardly ever sell any local rice. As Asian rice floods the Togolese market, local consumption has been overlooked in favor of that product. To boost the amount of rice we grow locally, the government must provide more assistance. More and more of it is high quality “According to a local producer, Togo First
“Why not start limiting imports?” said another agricultural player who recognized, however, that local production is still weak, as is rice processing, which is still not modern enough to challenge Asian rice.
