[00:00.100]From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.800]this is the Agriculture Report.
[00:05.700]Researchers are developing ways
[00:08.960]to increase rice production in Africa
[00:11.850]as part of efforts to fight hunger.
[00:15.540]Their work was discussed
[00:17.890]at the African Rice Congress in Cameroon last month.
[00:22.290]Experts say 60 percent of the thirty million tons of
[00:28.340]rice used in Africa is imported from Asia.
[00:33.600]They estimate that Africa spends $5 billion
[00:38.520]on rice imports every year.
[00:41.420]And yet the United Nations
[00:44.470]Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says
[00:48.170]they are still rice shortages on the continent.
[00:52.060]Rice production was reduced in some countries
[00:57.270]after the economic crisis of the 1990s.
[01:01.570]Samantana Mark is director general of
[01:05.480]Cameroon's rice production company, SEMRY.
[01:09.830]He says that with beginning of the crisis,
[01:13.780]African countries stopped making investments
[01:19.250]in rice production and in the marketing of rice.
[01:23.550]Issues like climate change and extreme temperatures
[01:29.180]have slowed rice production,
[01:31.530]especially in areas south of the Saharan desert.
[01:35.980]Plant disease is also a problem.
[01:40.010]But some African researchers say
[01:43.910]they have developed rice plants
[01:46.530]that can grow in areas with little rain fall.
[01:51.090]Nigerian-born Adekoya Madinat works with
[01:56.140]the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
[02:00.540]"With this research we try to see how much water
[02:03.550]exactly is needed for rice production
[02:06.120]and try to see which genes are actually recruited
[02:10.470]during the event of droughts.
[02:12.720]So these genes can be used to develop drought-resistant varieties
[02:16.530]that can be plante with minimal water
[02:18.970]and we still have very good yields and food security," said Madinat.
[02:22.590]Delegates to the congress called for
[02:25.530]great mechanization of African agriculture,
[02:29.380]and they agree that investing in rice production requires a lot of money.
[02:36.360]Robert Guei works for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.
[02:43.990]He says that investments in rice production
[02:47.440]should be a top issue for African governments
[02:51.340]seeking to end hunger and poverty.
[02:55.110]"African governments have to support small companies.
[02:59.060]These people have to be encouraged
[03:00.870]so governments have to come out with good policies
[03:03.660]whereby these companies are subsidized.
[03:06.470]Help them to have credits to banks and loans
[03:10.470]so that they can produce these varieties of rice
[03:14.090]and distribute and this is what FAO is doing now,
[03:16.800]talking to governments to set up policies," said Guei.
[03:19.000]Experts say that currently,
[03:21.200]African countries produce about 12 million tons of rice per year.
[03:27.310]And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English.