Rice farmers in East Africa are set to benefit from a US$3.1 million dollar grant to a rice sector promotion project which will be implemented over a period of three years.

The Competitive African Rice Initiative in East Africa (CARI-EA), which is being implemented jointly by the East African Community (EAC) and Kilimo Trust (KT) seeks to improve the rice sub-sector in the region.The project was approved for funding by Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in April 2019 and is now at the initial stage of implementation.

The project targets to reach 660,000 farming households. It aims to contribute to inclusive transformation of the rice sector in East Africa for sustainable increase in incomes of women, men and young people employed in the value chain of locally produced rice.

CARI-EA will support the EAC Secretariat to address the most critical bottlenecks in creating an enabling environment for structured trade in rice at both national and regional levels.

To ensure that farmers sustainably increase productivity to supply the contracted volumes of paddy agreed with SMEs and large traders, CARI-EA will promote the use of irrigation technologies and use of residual moisture during the dry season for a second crop e.g. vegetables or beans so as to enable income continuity for farmers over the year while increasing household food security and reduction in vulnerability.

The ultimate aim of the project is to unlock constraints that hinder regional rice trade and thus catalyse growth by stimulating investment, create competitiveness and inclusiveness in the rice industry.

With eac

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