The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have sealed a $12 million grant to turbocharge rice production across the region, targeting a crippling reliance on imports that drains $3.5 billion annually.
Signed in Abuja on March 10, 2025, the Rice Resilient Value Chains Development Project (REWARD) forms part of a broader $650 million initiative to achieve rice self-sufficiency in all 15 ECOWAS nations by 2035, as global food shocks and climate pressures escalate.
ECOWAS Commission President Alieu Omar Touray and AfDB Nigeria Director Abdul Kamara inked the agreement, which zeroes in on policy overhauls, stricter regulation of fertilizers and seeds, and digital tools to track farming outputs. The move responds to a stark imbalance: West Africa produces just 14 million metric tons of milled rice against demand surpassing 22 million tons, forcing heavy imports from Asia that strain foreign reserves and expose the region to volatile global prices.
“Rice isn’t merely a meal here—it’s economic survival,” said Touray, linking food security to regional stability under ECOWAS’ 4X4 strategy, which prioritizes peace, integration, governance, and sustainable development. The project dovetails with the bloc’s 2025-2035 Regional Rice Roadmap, aiming to slash import dependency while creating jobs for youth and smallholder farmers, who dominate the sector.
Kamara underscored the urgency, noting that rice consumption in West Africa is projected to double by 2050. “Without systemic intervention, this gap will widen into a crisis,” he warned. The AfDB-backed initiative will funnel resources into modernizing irrigation, expanding processing hubs, and incentivizing private-sector investments—a bid to replicate Nigeria’s partial success in cutting rice imports by 60% since 2015 through border closures and farmer subsidies.
Yet hurdles persist. Despite ECOWAS’ decade-long push for a unified rice market, intraregional trade remains hamstrung by poor infrastructure, conflicting national policies, and smuggling. The REWARD project seeks to dismantle these barriers by harmonizing quality standards and leveraging the ECOWAS Rice Observatory to monitor progress. Skeptics, however, question whether $650 million suffices for a region where 70% of farmers still rely on rain-fed plots and lack access to credit.
Analysts highlight Ghana’s mixed results as a cautionary tale: while its flagship Planting for Food and Jobs program boosted rice output by 50%, post-harvest losses exceeding 30% eroded gains. “Digital tools and policy tweaks won’t suffice without cold storage and roads,” said Accra-based agronomist Nana Ama Boateng. “Farmers need capital to scale.”
The AfDB-ECOWAS pact signals a broader shift toward food sovereignty as climate disasters and geopolitical tensions disrupt supply chains. With West Africa’s population set to hit 500 million by 2030, the stakes couldn’t be higher. As Touray put it: “This isn’t just about filling bowls—it’s about reclaiming control of our future.” Success, however, hinges on transforming pledges into palpable gains for the region’s 100 million small-scale farmers.
