Rice consumption in Angola, like in many other African nations, is rising due to shifts in eating habits and population growth, especially in urban areas. After maize and cassava, rice is the third most consumed crop in the country, with per capita consumption reaching around 40 kg, making Angola one of the major rice consumers in Southern Africa. However, the area dedicated to rice has never exceeded 0.6% of the total cultivated area, with an average yield of 2.3 t/ha, well below the global average of ~4.5 t/ha and unable to support the soaring demand.
The surge in consumption combined with low domestic production and productivity has led to a consistent rise in rice imports. In 2021 the State Treasury of Angola spent over US$260 million on rice imports. These practices impact the country's trade balance and represent a dangerous exposure to foreign market price fluctuation which could critically impact national food security. Nevertheless , Angola has yet to adopt the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) methods, a fact reflected in its absence from the comprehensive database of the SRI-Rice group based at Cornell University, and the SRI-Africa website.
SRI is a climate-smart, agroecological methodology for increasing rice productivity by changing the management of plants, soil, water, and nutrients. SRI emphasises cultivating rice with fewer inputs—less water, using fewer seeds, and reduced use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides—while enhancing yields, improving food security, and increasing farmers' incomes. Because of its combination of increasing yield and reducing GHG emissions, SRI is a solution to climate change suggested by Project Drawdown, the world’s leading resource for climate solutions.
Being a knowledge-intensive approach rather than an input-intensive one, SRI methods have been thought to be incompatible with the conventional agricultural development strategy. However, although SRI principles require an optimised use of inputs such as seeds, fertilisers, and water, the practices can be successfully implemented on a large scale through the utilisation of adapted machinery. Nevertheless, it is only in the past 20 years that SRI has been adopted by farmers in over 50 countries. Much still needs to be done to scale up the implementation of these beneficial practices from the current ~9 million hectares to at least 50 million hectares, as suggested by Project Drawdown. According to SRI-2030’s calculations, if SRI practices are adopted on 50 million hectares by 2030, almost one billion tons of CO2eq will be mitigated and profit for farmers will increase by over US$270 billion.
In the African continent, SRI methods have been spread mostly in West Africa, where rice is a staple food in many countries, and is now part of various National Rice Development Strategies (NRDS) and either a mitigation or adaptation option in some countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). On the other hand, Southern Africa is more reliant on maize and cassava while the efforts to improve rice production have been generally focused on developing large-scale irrigated areas, rather than disseminating cultivation practices to develop smallholders’ productivity. In neighbouring Zambia, a local expert of SRI, named Henry Ngimbu, independently trains rice farmers, reaching 40,000 small-holders since 2007. Learn more about Henry’s work and how he got to know about SRI methods here. Given the lack of local SRI experts in Angola, no similar introduction was possible until recently, when government officials became interested in SRI.
In February 2024, an in-person workshop titled African Paddy Rice Greenhouse Gas Mitigation assembled stakeholders from governments and research institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa to identify issues with current GHG mitigation and advocate for comprehensive solutions. The event was co-organized by SRI-2030 and the Rice Community of Practice (CoP) of the African Climate Action Partnership (AfCAP). During this event, Eng. Carlos Francisco Canza, the Angola's focal point within the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD), from the Rural Extension Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, learned about SRI methods by engaging with peers from other African countries and was interested in the touted potential of the system when combined with the ample evidence.
Following the event, Angola became a new member of the Sustainable Rice NDC Alliance, an initiative of SRI-2030 that convenes countries with rice-related NDC commitments or ambitions for such in the next NDC iteration, due in early 2025. Eng. Canza, now also acting as the Alliance representative, expressed great interest in launching activities to test SRI methods in Angola.
Meanwhile, SRI-2030 connected with Elielda Lopes Fernandes, the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) Manager for Food and Agriculture in Angola, who planned to establish a demonstration plot for agroecological practices. Ms Fernandes was interested in SRI, so SRI-2030 provided knowledge materials for supporting the establishment of an SRI demonstration plot and connected her with the Alliance Angola representative.
Coordinating with the Alliance’s focal point, the TBI successfully started the agroecology demonstration plot. In early July 2024, they transplanted the rice seedlings following SRI principles of early plant establishment and reduced plant density, marking the first known experimentation of SRI methods in Angola.
The soil was harrowed and ploughed to incorporate organic matter. Basins were prepared, each measuring 5 x 5 metres. For the 600 m² field, 600 kg of cattle manure was applied. The nursery was located close to the field to facilitate quick transportation of seedlings. It was watered twice daily. Clean, healthy seeds were used, consisting of two varieties from the IIA and a hybrid from the Marsiris company. A simple method was employed to eliminate non-viable seeds: seeds were placed in water, and those that floated (indicating they were not fully ripe or filled) were discarded.
The viable seeds were then soaked in clean, warm water for 24 hours to initiate germination. After soaking, the water was drained, and the seeds were transferred directly to the nursery. The nursery covered 6 m² to support the 600 m² field, using 600 g of seeds. The standard planting spacing of 30 x 30 cm was followed, with only the best seedlings selected for transplanting into the field. The bed was levelled and irrigated before transplanting. The nursery was watered the morning before transplanting, and the seedlings were planted in the field within 15 to 30 minutes to prevent them from drying out. The field was lightly watered after transplanting to ensure root contact with the soil.
The seedlings were transplanted 12 days after sowing in the nursery, at the two-leaf stage. A custom-made metal marking rake was used to ensure the specific spacing of 30 cm. The rake allowed for forward transplanting, which helped control foot placement and avoid stepping on the marks.
By following these simple practices rice plants can develop deep root systems and strong canopies which support the production of substantial fertile panicles while reinforcing soil health.
In this pilot plot, SRI practices for rice cultivation are implemented alongside agroforestry with tree lines mixed with a variety of local crops, for a total surface of 120m2. Trees are vital for enhancing the resilience, sustainability, and productivity of agroecosystems. In agroforestry systems, trees play a crucial role in creating a diverse and adaptable environment by increasing biomass availability, providing habitat and shelter for various organisms, and enhancing carbon capture; also, tree roots access deep soil layers for nutrients, benefiting nearby plants. The food crops selected for the tree lines have been selected to ensure their height does not shade the rice and so that their canopies feed the soil when pruned and their fruits provide food for the rice farmers.
As rice continues to rise in importance to Angola and other countries around Africa, it is imperative for their local stability and global environmental sustainability that practises like SRI are implemented to make the best use of the national resources available. The first step towards the wide dissemination of rice in Angola is also a significant step toward greater food and water security and SRI-2030 looks forward to building on it in the near future.
