Korean rice aid expands into Africa's more challenging regions

An official of the Korea-Africa Food & Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (KAFACI) office in Gabon displays a batch of CHEYI rice seeds, a new variety developed by KAFACI using Korean Tongil-type rice cultivars Miryang and Hanareum, May 30. Courtesy of Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

The Korean government’s rice assistance program for African nations, aimed at improving local food security, has entered its second phase, targeting more challenging terrain where rice cultivation depends on rainfall rather than irrigation.

So far, the Korea-Africa Food & Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (KAFACI) project under the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has concentrated on irrigated paddy fields, which have demonstrated high yields and improved grain quality.

The second phase, according to the ministry on Thursday, will begin developing new rice seeds that can withstand drought, low-temperature stress and salinity stress, which are chronic problems with rain-fed paddy fields.

Working with AfricaRice, a nonprofit research and training center headquartered in Ivory Coast, the Korean ministry will also accelerate efforts to harvest the seeds faster by employing techniques like anther (pollen) culture or single seed descent for faster breeding and germination. Transferring rice seed and rice farming techniques to new member states of KAFACI is another objective for the second phase.

So far, 37 of Africa’s 54 countries have joined the initiative as they seek to strengthen their domestic rice production capabilities. Rice is the continent’s second-most widely consumed staple food, after maize.

Pictured are 71 rice seed varieties developed by the Korea-Africa Food & Agriculture Cooperation Initiative, which have been officially registered for cultivation in 15 African countries. Courtesy of Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

KAFACI’s initial phase from 2016 to 2025 produced meaningful accomplishments. Working on Korea’s high-yield Tongil-type rice variety, the transcontinental collaboration has introduced 71 new rice seeds that later became official varieties in 15 nations. The new seeds, according to the ministry, have average yields of 6.6 to 6.8 tons per hectare.

The new seeds include CHEYI, MBOMA and MOUKAFACI-1 which, with 7 to 8 tons per hectare of yields and resistance to rice blast disease, became the first officially registered rice types in Gabon last August.

The ministry quoted Yonnelle Moukoumbi of Gabon’s Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Research as saying, “Starting this year, we are multiplying seeds with a goal to secure 9 tons of the three rice seed varieties for full-scale production. We’re now training 80 rice cultivation experts. Around 1,100 farmers from 60 agricultural cooperatives nationwide will begin a trial rice cultivation using CHEYI.”

Starting with ISRIZ-6 and ISRIZ-7 for Senegal, which became the country's official varieties in 2017, KAFACI’s latest rice seeds approved by African nations include those registered last year in Gambia, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Mali.

KAFACI has also trained local workers and introduced 44 new rice harvest experts across 23 African states. With the first batch of experts coming from Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Nigeria and Senegal in 2019, the initiative dispatched its most recent group of four in 2024.

Korea-Africa Food & Agriculture Cooperation Initiative officials test an anther culture technique on rice seeds inside an AfricaRice laboraotry in Senegal, June 1. Courtesy of Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

“The outcomes of the Africa rice development partnership project represent a highly significant milestone, establishing a foundation for rice self-sufficiency and food security, which have been long-held aspirations for Africa,” said Choi Kwang-ho, director general of the Technology Cooperation Bureau at the Rural Development Administration (RDA), a research unit under the Korean ministry.

“Going forward, we will utilize our world-class K-rice cultivation technology to help resolve food crises in many developing countries and enhance Korea's global stature.”

According to the ministry, African rice has low yields and is vulnerable to pests, and suffers overall from a low level of farming information and infrastructure. In 2024, the continent's average rice yield stood at 2.4 tons per hectare, less than half of Asia's average of 5 tons per hectare.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, population increase across the continent drove annual rice demand growth of more than 6 percent. As a result, 21 African nations collectively imported 19 million tons of rice worth $9 billion, which accounted for between 50 percent and 90 percent of their rice consumption.

Under KAFACI, the RDA’s Korea Partnership for Innovation of Agriculture collaborated with local African government agencies to increase rice seed yields from 2,320 tons in 2023 to 6,370 tons last year.

Their goal is to raise the figure to more than 10,000 tons next year, enough to produce 2.16 million tons of rice annually — sufficient to feed approximately 30 million people.