By Nevson Mpofu
Nigeria’s Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, H.E. Nwaobiala Ezenwa Chukwuemeka, has visited the AfricaRice Center’s main research station at M’bé, Côte d’Ivoire, reaffirming Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening cooperation aimed at accelerating rice production and advancing food security across Africa.
The visit underscored the shared commitment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the AfricaRice Center to transforming rice production systems through research, innovation, improved technologies and stronger partnerships. With food security and food sovereignty becoming increasingly important priorities across the continent, both sides emphasized the need to deepen collaboration and translate scientific advances into greater production at the national and regional levels.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has made increased domestic food production a strategic priority as it seeks to meet growing demand, reduce dependence on imports and strengthen resilience to climate-related shocks. Rice remains one of the country’s most important staples, making increased domestic paddy production central to broader efforts to achieve food self-sufficiency.
AfricaRice Director General Dr. Baboucarr Manneh described the Ambassador’s visit as an important demonstration of the Nigerian government’s commitment to achieving greater self-sufficiency in rice production. He highlighted the potential of scientific innovation and climate-smart technologies developed by AfricaRice to help Nigeria increase productivity while building more resilient agricultural systems.
“Nigeria has a large population of over 220 million people. Its food security has significant implications for the whole of Africa. To meet the growing needs of its population, reduce imports and cope with climate shocks, Nigeria is focusing on boosting domestic paddy rice production through scientific innovations and climate-smart technologies developed by AfricaRice,” Manneh said.
He stressed that strong partnerships will be critical to achieving these objectives, noting that the longstanding cooperation between Nigeria and AfricaRice provides a solid foundation for further progress.
“Nigeria has shown its determination, and AfricaRice is committed to being its partner. Our collaboration is deep-rooted, and we look forward to strengthening that commitment in order to bolster local food systems and deploy climate-resilient technologies,” Manneh added.
Ambassador Nwaobiala Ezenwa Chukwuemeka, for his part, emphasized the strategic importance of expanding the partnership beyond existing programs and ensuring that AfricaRice technologies and expertise reach more farmers and communities across Nigeria.
“To achieve true rice sovereignty for the benefit of all, our collaboration with AfricaRice must go further and scale up. By extending this partnership directly to Nigeria’s federal states and fully integrating the Center’s scientific innovations, appropriate mechanization and cutting-edge processing technologies, we are creating a model of sustainable self-sufficiency that will benefit not only Nigeria but the entire region,” the Ambassador said.
The visit comes as African governments face growing pressure to strengthen domestic food production amid population growth, climate change, supply-chain disruptions and the high cost of food imports. Rice, whose consumption has expanded significantly across the continent, remains a major component of Africa’s food import bill despite considerable potential for increased local production.
For Nigeria, deeper cooperation with AfricaRice could help bridge productivity gaps by expanding access to improved rice varieties, climate-smart farming practices, mechanization, processing technologies and scientific expertise. Scaling these interventions across producing states could also strengthen value chains, create jobs and reduce post-harvest losses.
The renewed Nigeria-AfricaRice engagement reflects a broader continental drive to move beyond dependence on food imports toward stronger domestic production systems. With Nigeria’s enormous market and agricultural potential, progress toward rice self-sufficiency could have implications well beyond its borders, providing lessons and opportunities for other African countries confronting similar food-security challenges.
The Ambassador’s visit therefore served not only as a reaffirmation of an existing partnership, but also as a call to deepen cooperation between governments, researchers, farmers and the private sector. For both Nigeria and AfricaRice, the objective is increasingly clear: translate research and innovation into higher production, greater resilience and a more food-secure Africa.
