Over 3bn people eat rice daily – FAO

More than three billion people eat rice everyday, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said.

Maria Semedo, Deputy Director-General of Climate and Natural Resources at FAO, said the agency was concerned about global rice production and eradicating hunger around the world.

“With over three billion people across the globe eating rice every day, rice is critical to global food security,” Semedo said.

Accordingly, the UN agriculture agency has taken step to help rice farmers bolster production.

The UN agency said it has teamed up with an international research institute to enhance rice farming and make it more adaptable to climate change.

FAO announced that it would work with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to support sustainable rice production in developing countries to improve food security and livelihoods, while also safeguarding natural resources.

According to FAO, the two organizations will work together to assist rice producing countries to “adopt improved and adapted rice varieties, enhance availability of certified seeds and the transfer of knowledge.”

FAO and IRRI will also work to help women farmers participate in “viable, safe and dignified” entrepreneurial opportunities in the rice value chain, the UN agency said.

Meanwhile, FAO has developed the Regional Rice Initiative for Asia and Pacific which promotes enhanced crop resilience while increasing efficiency and farmers’ income.

In Africa and Latin America the UN agency is engaged in scientific and technical cooperation including the sharing of technologies and best practices to increase production and productivity, especially reduction of post-harvest losses and improved grain quality.

For its part, IRRI is engaged in strengthening capacities of all rice sector actors through its capacity development activities.

The partnership is a global alliance to promote resource efficiency and sustainability in trade flows, production and consumption operations, and supply chains in the global rice sector.