Policy

On the 12th of August 2025, the African Climate Action Partnership (AfCAP) hosted a webinar on “Agricultural Policy and Institutional Arrangements to enable Climate-Smart Rice”. This webinar explored how agricultural policy, and institutional arrangements can support the transition to climate-smart rice production. This session highlighted enabling policy frameworks and showcased national examples of innovative approaches and effective institutional coordination. The webinar also aided in identifying critical policy and institutional gaps that hinder the adoption of low-emission, climate-resilient rice practices.   

Dr. Jimmy Lamo, Senior Principal Research Officer & Rice Breeding Lead at National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), opened the session on the Role of Research in Shaping Climate-Smart Policy. He emphasized that research provides the evidence needed to understand climate change, improve rice production, and reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, especially methane and nitrous oxide from rice farming practices. Dr. Lamo explained that key research areas include assessing climate impacts, developing resilient rice varieties through seed breeding, improving water and nutrient management, and promoting conservation agriculture such as perennial rice. He highlighted the importance of translating scientific findings into practical tools for policymakers and communities, supported by international collaboration and public awareness. Two case studies were shared: one on a high-yield, nutrient-efficient rice variety (WDR 7), and another on integrated pest management to reduce chemical use and promote crop rotation.  

Dr. Mary Mutembei, Head of the Rice Promotion Programme at the State Department for Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development in Kenya, opened up the second session on Enabling policy environments for scaling Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) for rice. This session emphasized the critical role of policies and institutions in scaling-up climate-smart rice cultivation. Despite extensive research and innovation, adoption remains low due to inconsistent policies, limited farmer awareness, weak extension services, and inadequate financial incentives.

Dr. Mutembei highlighted the need for coherent policy frameworks, stakeholder engagement, and gender equity, while stressing the importance of ministries, research bodies, and advisory services in driving adoption. Approaches like farmer training, public-private partnerships, and market-based incentives were recommended to boost uptake. Ultimately, she called for stronger collaboration, better funding, and integration of climate goals into agricultural support systems to overcome challenges and accelerate adoption. 

The final presentation was given by Rosemary Murori, Collaborative Research Scientist at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), on the importance of building stakeholder alignment across rice systems. During her presentation Murori emphasized the importance of building strong stakeholder and institutional alignment to effectively scale climate-smart rice technologies. She highlighted that rice is a vital crop for global food security, grown by millions of farmers and consuming significant water resources, making climate-smart solutions essential. Murori stressed that no single institution can tackle these challenges due to limited resources and diverse mandates, calling for collaboration across research centers, governments, private sector, and scaling partners. She underscored the need for market intelligence to guide research and breeding efforts, ensuring technologies meet the needs of farmers, consumers, and markets. It was emphasized that deploying technologies is not just about availability, it’s about timing and coordination. Seeds must be accessible when farmers need them, and digital tools should be used to predict demand and guide seed producers. Monitoring and evaluation are also vital to track adoption and inform policy decisions.  Rosemary also highlighted the role of capacity building, showing how simple innovations, like upgrading seed dressing equipment, can dramatically improve efficiency and dissemination. Her message was clear: without strategic alignment and shared resources, even the best technologies risk remaining unused, limiting their potential to improve livelihoods and climate resilience.