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  • No 9, Sixth Circular Rd, Accra
  • +233 303969615 +233 502275820

Competitive African Rice Initiative (CARI) I & II

Competitive African Rice Initiative (CARI) I & II

Phase I

The Competitive African Rice Initiative, Phase I (CARI 1), a four-year project, was introduced in 2014 and ended in June 2018. The purpose was to enhance the livelihoods of small-scale rice farmers in four African countries: Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Tanzania.

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the German Federal Ministry for Cooperation and Economic Development (BMZ), CARI 1 was implemented by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), the John A. Kufuor Foundation, Technoserve (TNS) of Ghana and Kilimo Trust (KT) of Tanzania.

The project was aimed at increasing substantially the income of local rice farmers in the selected countries through their integration into competitive and sustainable business models. Four key components and results areas for the project included:

  1. Increased productivity and quality of paddy rice based on the development of substantial and competitive rice production systems.
  2. Increased efficiency of local rice sourcing, processing and marketing through structured value chain linkages, improved technology and process management
  3. Improved access to financial services for all value chain actors served, and,
  4. Improved enabling policy environment for rice sector development.

 

The Foundation was the sole implementer of Component 4, in the four countries (Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Tanzania).

The achievements of the Foundation and thus the CARI Phase I project, are as follows:

  1. Engagement of members in rice industry associations has increased
  2. Private sector interests are reflected in national rice strategies, policies and/or programs
  3. Recommendations of national sector organizations regarding ecological compatibility are reflected in government decisions
  4. Value chain analyses and policy recommendations for the rice sector are published
  5. Organizational capacity of JAK and Kilimo Trust increased

It is worth noting that the CARI program has made significant achievements (read more about our achievements here in our reports, news and archives)

Phase II

CARI II Transitions and Commencement: JAKF Assumed responsibility of all 4 objectives of CARI Phase I: JAKF assumed oversight of objectives 1-3 in addition to its mandated implementation of Objective 4, from January to June 2018. The roles were previously implemented by Techno Serve, who exited the project in December 2017.

 

The Foundation commenced work on the new phase of the project on July 1, 2018. It seeks to facilitate knowledge and experience sharing across multiple platforms in Ghana and Nigeria while spearheading private sector engagement in national rice policies (Read more about the project activities in our reports, news and archives)