DHAKA, June 9 (V7N) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and CGIAR, with crucial support from the Gates Foundation, today unveiled a new initiative designed to significantly increase investment in sustainable and low-carbon rice production. The program aims to improve the lives of millions of vulnerable smallholder farmers across Asia and the Pacific, where rice serves as the primary food source for over half the population and underpins the livelihoods of millions in rural poverty.

Despite its vital role, rice farming is confronting mounting challenges, including declining productivity, shrinking water supplies, and its substantial contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. An ADB press release highlighted that if left unaddressed, these issues pose a serious threat to food security and the well-being of the region's poorest and most vulnerable communities.

"Rice is critical to Asia's food security, providing over a quarter of the region's calorie intake—and up to half in Southeast Asia. For hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers, rice is not just food, it is their livelihood. Today, that livelihood is increasingly threatened by extreme weather and environmental degradation," stated ADB Vice-President for Sectors and Themes Fatima Yasmin.

The newly established ADB-CGIAR Clearinghouse Facility, co-financed by the Gates Foundation, will be the driving force behind this initiative. It aims to accelerate the adoption of resilient, high-yield, and low-emission farming practices, promote sustainable water use, foster inclusive value chains, and enhance nutrition for the region's most impoverished populations.

The ADB has committed to investing up to $1.5 billion through this program between 2025 and 2030. This investment is earmarked to sustainably improve productivity, enable adaptation to harsher climate conditions, and reduce both water and carbon footprints in rice cultivation. This commitment is part of ADB's broader pledge of $40 billion towards food systems transformation by 2030, an initiative announced in May.

Yvonne Pinto, Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), a member of the CGIAR network of research centers, expressed enthusiasm for the collaboration. "This joint initiative will reinforce CGIAR's strategic collaboration with ADB and scale up CGIAR's innovations in rice systems and beyond," she said. Pinto added, "Alongside partners, such as ADB and Gates Foundation, we can drive sustainable and resilient transformation of the rice sector in Asia and transform the lives of millions of smallholder farmers now and in the future."

Initial projects under this new initiative are currently under development in several Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Pakistan, and the Philippines.

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