Harvesting diplomacy: Korea’s Africa rice initiative hits 10,000-ton milestone

Farmers take part in an agricultural training program under the K-Rice Belt project in Uganda. Courtesy of Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

A Korean-backed rice initiative in Africa has crossed a symbolic milestone, producing more than 10,000 tons of rice seed in just three years as Seoul deepens its push to position agricultural aid as a pillar of global food security.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Rural Development Administration said Thursday that the K-Rice Belt project produced 6,365 tons of high-yield rice seed across seven African countries in 2025.

The total exceeded this year’s target of 4,752 tons by 34 percent and marked a 79 percent increase from last year’s output of 3,562 tons.

With this year’s harvest included, cumulative production under the program reached 12,248 tons since its launch in 2023, surpassing the 10,000-ton mark for the first time.

The K-Rice Belt project is Korea’s flagship agricultural development assistance program aimed at strengthening food security in African countries with weak rice production infrastructure.

Participating countries currently include Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Ghana, Cameroon, Uganda and Kenya, with Sierra Leone newly added this year.

Uganda accounted for the largest share of this year’s production at 3,670 tons.

Officials said average productivity reached 4.6 tons per hectare, more than double the 2.2 tons typically produced through conventional local farming methods.

The figure also represented a 15 percent increase from last year’s average yield of 4 tons per hectare.

The government said 1,633 tons of seed produced during the first growing season are already being distributed to farmers and vulnerable groups in participating countries.

An additional 4,732 tons harvested during the second season will also be supplied following consultations with local governments.

The program is also expanding infrastructure construction, including irrigation canals, reservoirs and pumping stations, across roughly 520 hectares of rice seed production complexes in seven countries.

Jeong Yong-ho, director general for international cooperation at the agriculture ministry, said the project was steadily building sustainable agricultural foundations across Africa.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.