Africa: Rice is nice but not for long

DAKAR: The organisers of a week-long African Rice Congress in Bamako, capital of Mali, say African countries can decrease hunger and save millions of dollars if they wean themselves off rice imports and increase local production, but experts favour a "drastic" move away from rice to native grains.

"Rice used to be reserved for special days, like religious holidays, baptisms, weddings [and] popular celebrations. But today, across Mali, rice is prepared [everyday] at noon. In Bamako it is worse - there are those who eat it both day and night," Bintou Diallo, the head of a women's rice-growing cooperative 300km east of Bamako, told IRIN.

Conference organisers estimate that 40 percent of the rice consumed annually in Africa is imported - about 10 million tons - which cost US$2 billion in 2006.

Read the full article on IRIN.