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October 26, 2022  WFP China COE  

Seminar on China-Africa Rice Value Chain: Rice Processing, Storage and Quality Control

China-Africa Rice Value Chain;Rice Processing;Storage; Quality Control

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Seminar on China-Africa Rice Value Chain (Photo courtesy of WFP China COE)


Background


Rice is a staple food crop in many developing countries. With its strategic role in food security, rice value chain enhancement in developing countries become increasingly important to the resilience and transformation of food system, Although there is a large amount of land suitable for rice production in Africa, there are still gaps existing in rice production, processing and storage in African countries due to funding and technology constraints.


To address these challenges, a Joint Initiative on South-South Cooperation for Rice Value Chain Development in Africa was announced at the Seminar of China-Africa Ag-coop and Development by China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE), World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China (MARA), African Union and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), during the first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in June 2019, Changsha, China. 


The United Nations Food Systems Summit took place on 23 September 2021. It served as a historic opportunity to empower all people to leverage the power of food systems to fuel the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and return on track to achieve SDGs by 2030. As the anchor agency of Action Track 5, WFP underpins the ambitions on building resilience and mitigating shocks, understanding and addressing the drivers and root causes of food insecurity, strengthening national supply chains, supporting smallholder farmers, and reducing food loss and waste.


The 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was held in Dakar, Senegal, from November 29th to 30th 2021. The Conference adopted Dakar Action Plan (2022-2024), which indicates the importance of China-Africa cooperation mechanism to further strengthen food security and support rural development in Africa.  


Leveraging China's knowledge and experience, in aspect of rice value chain development, through South-South Cooperation is prioritized by WFP Centre of Excellence for Rural Transformation (WFP China COE) and contributed to developing countries' food systems resilience. In 2021, a Seminar on China-Africa Rice Value Chain was organised by WFP China COE and UNOSSC, which served as a platform for experts and practitioners in rice sector to explore ways for enhancement of China-Africa cooperation on rice value chain. This event drew a wide attention from both China and African stakeholders. A total of 118 representatives attended the Seminar on site, while 114 participants from 25 countries attended online.


Rice value chain has become the prioritised thematic area of South-South Cooperation supported by WFP China COE. WFP China COE committed to advancing China-African cooperation to promote food security in African countries. Since 2021, WFP China COE joined hands with Regional Centre of Excellence against Hunger and Malnutrition (CERFAM) to facilitate knowledge transfer and mobilization of expertise on rice value chain development.  Côte d'Ivoire was one first country to benefit from this initiative, exchanged with and learned from China's policies, strategies, technologies and know-how to develop its rice value chain. Both technical and policy-level exchange have contributed to increase engagement of Ivorian stakeholders and to promote the national food security and nutrition, especially in the North Region. CERFAM has been a strategic partner to support learning and exchanges with China and among African countries to foster implementation of SDGs in the continent. 


Rationale


WFP places great emphasis on the smallholder farmers capacity enhancement and their access to the market supportiveness. In 2018, the Smallholder Agricultural Market Support (SAMS) programme guidance is structured on the development of four pathways that mirror the smallholder market access theory of change: inclusive aggregation, demand side, supply side, and enabling environment. In full alignment with SAMS strategy, value chain development for smallholders is one of the prioritised areas of WFP China COE aiming to help increase farmer's access to the market and improve their livelihoods, which contributes to building sustainable food systems, advancing food security, and achieving Zero Hunger. 


China has accumulated valuable experiences and significant comparative advantage in rice production, processing and storage for post-harvest loss management, programmatic technologies and machinery, investment and marketing, etc. There is apparent complementarity and potential in China-Africa rice value chain cooperation.  Strong political commitments from leaders of both China and Africa were demonstrated to promote and enlarge China-Africa agricultural cooperation for food systems enhancement in Africa.


In this context, a policy dialogue will be organised to further discuss and exchange insights on China-Africa rice value chain development focusing on processing, storage and quality control. Co-organisers of the event will be WFP China COE, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration (NAFRA), CICETE, CERFAM, UNOSSC. The policy dialogue will be supported by MARA and AGRA.


Objective


The Seminar aims to provide a platform to link both China and Africa concerned partners to exchange knowledge, technologies and insights on solutions and pathways to enhance rice value chain, especially on rice processing, storage and rice quality control. Through South-South Cooperation dialogue, this seminar is expected to facilitate Africa to benefit from and exchange with the Chinese food security experience and expertise in agricultural development and among themselves for innovative solutions and good practices for rice value chain development. 


Specifically, the Seminar will explore to:

▷ Promote the South-South Cooperation and facilitate mutual learning between China and African countries;

▷ Promote know-how transfer, technological adaptation and investment for rice value chain enhancement, especially on processing, storage management, and rice quality control;

▷ Leverage potential resources for the initiative of China-Africa Rice Value Chain Enhancement by synergizing all concerned partners, both in Africa and China.


Event arrangement


1. Event Format

The Seminar is organised in a hybrid format online and offline. For in-situ participants, a half day field visit will be organised.


2. Participants Invited

Participants include government agencies, academia and enterprises from China and Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, etc. Embassies of the African countries in Beijing and relevant UN Agencies will be invited to the on-site event in Zhejiang Province. 

Representatives from WFP Headquarter, Regional Bureau, Country Offices and Centers of Excellence, African regional institutions will be invited to join the virtual session.


3. Language

Chinese/ English/ French simultaneous interpretation will be provided.


4. Follow-up

Insights and advice on rice value chain enhancement will be collected. Further actions will be taken to follow up and concretize valuable initiatives out of the meeting discussion.

The Seminar will feed the WFP-China South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Platform and Cloud School courses. Relevant knowledge products including experts' presentations and reference materials will be shared with participants after the event. 


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Please join us through: 

Zoom ID: 982 1647 9091 Passcode: 642260

7 September 16:00-19:15 Beijing time / 8:00-11:15 GMT; 

8 September 15:00-17:00 Beijing time / 7:00-9:00 GMT.

Register here:https://wfp-org-conference.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-bf_kAErTWq9r9zgb-40Cg


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