RICOWAS project stakeholders hold annual review, steering committee meeting

The Scaling-up Climate Resilient Rice Production in West Africa (RICOWAS) project has held its Annual Review and Steering Committee meeting to assess progress made in 2025 and outline strategies for the 2026 implementation year.

The day’s meeting, held at Nyankpala, near Tamale, was attended by implementers’ of the project, researchers and partners to review its achievements, discuss challenges and recommend measures to enhance the project’s outcomes.

Dr Issah Sugri, National Coordinator, RICOWAS project, speaking during the meeting, said significant progress had been achieved under the project as it had helped boost rice production in the country.

Dr Sugri said more than 3,700 rice farmers had been trained under the project while 84 demonstration fields were mounted across the country in 2025 to strengthen climate-resilient rice production and enhance food security.

He added that “We have successfully trained two national master trainers and 50 master trainers, who are expected to train 5,000 farmers on System of Rice Intensification (SRI)/climate-smart agricultural practices.”

RICOWAS project is a four-year initiative being implemented in 13 West African countries with support from the Adaptation Fund through the Sahara and Sahel Observatory.

It seeks to improve the resilience of smallholder rice production systems to climate change through the promotion of the SRI and other climate-smart rice production practices.

In the country (Ghana), it is being implemented by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI) in 22 districts in seven regions including Northern, Savanna, Upper East, Ashanti, Oti, Volta and Western North with the aim to scale-up SRI practices to benefit 13,173 rice farmers.

SRI is a rice cultivation method designed to increase productivity while reducing water consumption and improving resource efficiency.

Dr Sugri said the project was promoting the adoption of SRI, which involved the use of younger seedlings, improved water management, compost application and other best agronomic practices to increase productivity while building resilience to climate change.

He said “While significant progress had been achieved, challenges relating to mechanisation, access to equipment and the scaling up of technologies remained key concerns that required attention.”

Mr Alex Yeboah, Acting Head of Rice Improvement Programme at CSIR-SARI and Northern Zone Coordinator of RICOWAS project, who presented the northern zone progress report of the project, said it had reached more than 30 communities across six districts since its inception and trained about 1,380 farmers on SRI technologies and climate-resilient rice production practices.

He said 12 field days had been organised with more than 1,150 participants attending while partnerships had been established with private sector actors to support mechanisation and technology dissemination.

Mr Yeboah said SRI had proven effective in increasing farm-level productivity and was gaining acceptance amongst farmers in the area.

Dr Stephen Yeboah, Southern Zone Coordinator of RICOWAS project, who presented the southern zone progress report of the project, said its activities had expanded from four regions at inception in 2023 to five regions covering more than 20 districts.

He said more than 2,400 farmers had been engaged under the project with women accounting for over half of the participants.

He said the project had promoted SRI technologies, distributed improved rice seed, conducted participatory variety selection activities and strengthened farmers’ knowledge of climate-smart agricultural practices.

He said the cumulative impact of the project from 2023 to 2025 showed significant improvements in farmer participation, technology adoption and increased rice production across project communities.

Dr Francis Kusi, Director, CSIR-SARI said results from the interventions of the project across the country had been encouraging and would contribute to efforts aimed at increasing domestic rice production and reducing food inflation.

Dr Kusi encouraged the project team to continue building on the gains made under the project to further improve rice production and contribute to national food security.

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