Assistance through the Trust Fund for Human Security for Supporting Poor Farmers in Ghana by the Dissemination of New Rice for Africa (NERICA)

October 29, 2004

On October 29 (Friday), the Government of Japan and the United Nations (UN) decided to extend assistance of a total of 925,914.00 US dollars (approximately 100 million yen) through the Trust Fund for Human Security for the program "Dissemination of NERICA and Improved Rice Production Systems to Reduce Food Deficit and Improve Farmers' Income in Ghana" to be implemented in the Republic of Ghana by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

This project aims at assisting poor farmers and their communities in Ghana by increasing food security and income of farmers through the dissemination of NERICA Rice and the provision of improved rice production technologies. Activities included in this project are as follows:

(1)	Transferring NERICA and improved rice varieties, and rice integrated crop management systems in order to increase the productivity of rice production;
(2)	Transferring appropriate equipment and tools for the harvest, post-harvest operations and the technologies for processing of rice grain and biomass into value-added products;
(3)	Strengthening of the capacity of farmers' cooperative associations;
(4)	Strengthening the production and distribution of rice seeds, including the seeds of NERICA varieties.

This project is expected to assist in enhancing the agricultural productivity of poor farmers in Ghana, and consequently reducing malnutrition and poverty in the country.

(Note)

The Trust Fund for Human Security was established in the UN Secretariat in March 1999 by the initiative of the Government of Japan, with total contributions of 29.0 billion yen (approximately US$ 256 million) up to the present. The Trust Fund has assisted numerous projects of UN agencies that address various threats against human life, livelihood and dignity, from the perspective of Human Security.
NERICA (New Rice for Africa) is a promising new African upland rice species developed through crossing African rice species-resistant to disease and drought-and Asian rice species-with high yield potential. The West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) succeeded in developing NERICA in 1994 with the aim of addressing the continuous food shortage caused by low agricultural production and increased population in the region.

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