Africa's rice production and import demand in 2023

USA also estimates that rice consumption and reserves across Africa in 2023 will reach over 42.2 million tons, an increase of more than 570 thousand tons compared to 2022, of which: (i) North Africa region will reach about 4,000 tons. 4 million tons, an increase of 50 thousand tons; (ii) Sub-Saharan Africa reached about 37.5 million tons, an increase of 300 thousand tons.

Over the past many years, although the rice cultivation area in Africa has expanded, post-harvest rice output in countries on the continent is still low compared to the world and is limited by a number of factors such as : low quality rice varieties, few improvements, erratic weather conditions, underdeveloped agricultural infrastructure, limited resources, pests, production, harvesting, and processing processes and poor preservation... In general, Africa's rice production is not expected to keep up with the growth in rice consumption demand and the region's population growth.

Imported rice plays a vital role in Africa's food security, despite many countries' efforts towards self-sufficiency. To meet the estimated rice demand of over 42.2 million tons in 2023, Africa is expected to import about 17.7 million tons, a decrease of 4.5%. The reason for the decrease in imports is because from the second half of 2022, many countries on the continent have proactively imported rice for reserve, in case food prices continue to increase due to the consequences of the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In the coming time, Africa's main rice supply will still focus mainly on India, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam. The main types of rice imported by African countries include fragrant rice, white rice and broken rice.