Rice constitutes a major part of the diet in many Sub-Saharan African countries. The demand for rice in the region has been growing rapidly since the mid 1970s, and the average increase in rice consumption is now more than 6% annually while rice production is only increasing at 3% per year.

This brisk growth in demand is largely due to population growth and rapid urbanisation.

Many biotic and abiotic factors limit rice productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa resulting in a widening gap between production and consumption. The West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) has been working on overcoming constraints to rice production, and recently AATF joined in supporting these reports by exploring collaborative linkages to promote productive technological interventions. In particular, WARDA and AATF have confirmed their mutual interest in developing rice varieties with increased nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), as well as salt tolerance (ST).