Tamale rice1

9-12 January 2012, Modern City Lodge, Tamale, Ghana

Rice Systems Working Group

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Starting from the ideas in the concept note:

• For your specific farming/production system, WHAT SPECIFIC IMPACTS and OUTCOMES (targets, quantifiable, timeframe) do we want to achieve, directly by our project, or through the actions of others. What problems will you solve?
• For your chosen impacts and outcomes, specify HOW you would achieve these, with major timelines. What are your IMPACT or OUTCOME PATHWAYS?

For YOUR impact or outcome pathways:

• Identify, as precisely as possible, WHO in terms of organizations, initiatives or other processes must be involved in your project, and how. Indicate what would be necessary to motivate them to fully engage in the project. What partners are needed to achieve your impacts?

Participants: Olipomi Ajayi (AfricaRice), Fred Kizito (IWMI), Rangaswamy Muniappan (IPM-CRSP), Cecil Osei (CRS), Issoufou Kollo (CORAF), Abdou Tenkuano (AVRDC), Jeff Hill (USAID/Washington), Nelson Agbo (AquaFish), Steve Amissah (AquaFish), Elizabeth Skewgar (USAID/Washington), Stephen Nutsugah (SARI), Tabi Karikari (AfDB)

Goals: What specific impacts, targets, timeframe for this project or through the actions of others? -specify how to achieve, timelines?

Discussion: To describe impacts, we need to know the constraints. Nutsugah: From concept note – topics as integrated parts of whole system From the CONCEPT NOTE Inland valley systems – rice-based systems in lowlands --There are three types: upland, rainfed lowland, irrigated --Lowland intensification is easiest if there is moisture With irrigation, opportunities are even greater 80-90% rice grown in dryland, starts like Maize. As season advances, flats are inundated to become wetland rice. In Navrongo cooridor, they do transplanting but there is still some dryland rice. In the past, all rice in N Ghana was considered upland, because it started dry, but it really grows in lowland, inland valley. Constraint: Market requires raw-milled rice. Current production requires parboiling because of low moisture content; without parboiling it will break. Parboiling creates unappetizing product – odor and texture.

Target: irrigated, lowland

Location: Navrongo (rainfall 5-6 months, otherwise dry with falling water table), with spillover to Mali

Crops grown: vegetables (e.g., tomatoes, Irish potatoes, okra, eggplant, onion, pepper), legumes (e.g., cowpea, soybean under irrigation) --Pepper needs a lot of water or it will not produce --Intensifying within 5-6 month wet system is possible (cowpea before rice)

Approach: Obei: Need focus on food security and livelihoods Aquafish: Need environmental benefits and ecological integrity --NRM and water management

Constraints (researchable issues?): --Quality, Soil fertility, Water management --How can we improve on existing systems?

Components (Muni):

Component	Rice	Vegetables	Legumes/Fish
Soil
Fertilizer		x
Water
Varieties		Drought tolerant vegetables
Pest management
Post harvest
Markets
Component Integration			Integrate fish with rice when water

Cecil Osei: looking for intensification factors – focus on production. Food security is affected by other investments. What is available now? What can we do for the future? Jeff: need to stay within manageable interests. Are we talking about expanding systems or intensification of existing low-input systems? Where is SADA representative? There is going to be expansion of irrigated rice. And are you talking at household or landscape level? Chair: Trying to improve what they can get out of the system. Rice environment is changing in the near future. There will be big rice farms. We now have small and medium farms. Muni: Three ecosystems: Dry (no vegetables), hydromorphic (vegetables), wet (vegetables). Abdou: When there is water, integrate fish and rice. When dry, focus on other integration. --Impact of fish/rice culture when water is present --What varieties of vegetables can be grown when dryer – drought tolerant vegetables

Recommendations of Transformation group:

1. Inventory
2. Innovation platforms - In year 1, reach 500 farmers with focus on women (technology ambassadors)
3. Identify partners in private sector, NGOs, other projects to reach farmer groups

IMPACT Total factor productivity of lowland rice-based system increased by 100% in 5 years.

INTERMEDIATE RESULTS

1. Improved soil and water management options - 10
2. Improved varieties/species - 10
3. Improved labor-saving (for women) technologies and actions (planting, harvesting, threshing) - 6
4. Improved IPM options – 5
5. Increased market share of locally produced rice in southern Ghana

ACTIONS and PARTNERS

1. Analyze value chains and crop/livestock enterprise in project areas
   1. CSIR – SARI, AfricaRice, CRS
2. Establish multi-stakeholder innovation platform
   1. CSIR-SARI, AfricaRice, AquaFish KNUST, CRS, IPM-CRSP, AVRDC, Hort-CRSP, Savannah Marketing Company, MofA, GAIDA (input company), ICOUR, IFDC
3. Develop/adapt technology options for system intensification and improvement in production
   1. CSIR-SARI, AfricaRice, AVRDC, AquaFish, IPM-CRSP, IWMI, CSIR-FRI,
4. Facilitate scaling out of adopted technologies and practices
   1. MofA, CRS, CSIR-SARI, Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), GRATIS, African Development Bank (AfDB)
5. Conduct short-term and identify long-term training
   1. AfricaRice, all CRSPs, CSIR-SARI, UDS, MofA, IWMI, AVRDC, USAID missions and programs
6. Policy & advocacy
   1. SADA, Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies

Projects and Initiatives:

1. AfricaRice-GDA Post-Harvest Project
2. Rice Sector Support Project (RSSP) [AFD]
3. Northern Rural Growth Project (IFAD/AfDB)
4. AGRA-DANDA-ACMP
5. CRSPs
6. GCAP (WB/USAID)
7. Seed Strengthening System (CORAF/AusAID)
8. BLOCKFARM AMSEC, FERT-SUBSIDY, BUFFERSTOCK (GoG)