Rice and Hope

Abolishing Poverty in Asia

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very day, 250,000 people join us on our already crowded globe. Most of these people are born into poverty and live their entire lives in poverty, with only death allowing them to escape. According to the World Bank, 840 million people are going hungry today, two billion are malnourished, and 1.3 billion live in absolute poverty, existing on less than one dollar a day. For many, their lives are driven by a simple obsession: finding their next meal. What most of us do not realize is that 70 percent of these poor, hungry people live in Asia. South Asia alone is home to half the developing worlds poor. Together, Bangladesh and eastern India have as many poor as all of sub-Saharan Africa. While poverty and hunger in Ethiopia and Somalia have permanently scarred the worlds conscience, the longstanding suffering, hunger, and hopelessness of Asias 800 million desperately poor people are somehow routinely overlooked. Forgotten. Why? These victims are living testimonials to our failures: distorted priority setting, social irresponsibility, and lack of global thinking. To still have hunger in our world of abundance is not only unacceptable, it is unforgivable. In Asia, where nearly all the worlds rice is grown and eaten, food means rice. Feeding the poor and helping them work their way out of poverty means starting with the basics: increasing rice production and improving access to rice. In Asia, plentiful, affordable rice has been the key to maintaining social stability, promoting economic growth, and reducing poverty. As Asia becomes increasingly urban during the next quarter century, growing enough rice for the urban

With Asias stomach growling once again, rice is providing hope for dealing with the intertwined issues of poverty, hunger, soaring population, and environmental degradation.

poorand finding the land, water, and people to do this will most likely become hot political issues. We must ask ourselves two difficult questions: Can the world grow enough rice to feed Asia? And, do we have the means and determination to get this food to the people who need it and ensure that they have access to it? The fear of famine and penury in Asia in the 1950s propelled concerned people to create the International Rice Research Institute in 1960. The driving force was simple: making the biggest pile of rice possible, as quickly as possible, to feed the ever-multiplying number of hungry mouths. This massive effort gave the world something it desperately needed: time. Time to build national rice research institutions, curb population growth, build more schools, and establish good health programs. But have we used this time wisely to invest in a healthy world? IRRI and its partners are once again faced with the daunting challenge of producing more rice, but in a much more complicated and fragile world. With success in keeping Asia fed has come a complacency that is difficult to shake. The world simply assumes that Asias growling stomach can be quieted once again: Asian farmers can bring more land into cultivation, irrigate more fields, throw on more fertilizer, plant another crop, and, if more food is needed, it can be grown elsewhere and traded in the global economy. But the quick fixes for boosting production are long gone. In Asia, there is no more new land. Water is becoming scarce. Besides, who wants to be a poor rice farmer when the city at least offers hope for a better life for the next generation? And unlike maize and wheat, little of the rice crop (only 6.6 percent) is traded globally.

In the last century, some highly motivated people, driven by moral outrage, decided that slavery was monstrous, unconscionable, and must be abolished. They were called abolitionists. Today, widespread hunger in a world of plenty calls equally for moral outrage. The silent holocaust that causes some 40,000 hunger-related deaths every day is unconscionable and must be abolished. We must become the new abolitionists.
Ismail Serageldin Chairman, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research

R. Cabrera

C. Dedolph

Each year, 50 million new peoplemostly rice eatersare added to Asia. To feed them, the world must increase its rice output between now and 2020 by one-third more than what is grown and eaten today. Unlike other industries, agriculture cannot simply build more rice factories and step up production. Never before has agriculture faced such a stern challenge. Feeding Asia and providing opportunities for people to free themselves from the shackles of poverty are not impossible. This task requires political will, commitment, and sheer determination among many diverse partners. Agriculturericemust be the cornerstone of dealing with the inseparable issues of poverty, hunger, population growth, and environmental degradation. Humanitys greatest challenge may soon be just making it to the next harvest, Lester Brown of the World Watch Institute warned in 1995. But even if the world can produce enough, getting the food to those who need it is a huge challenge. As Nobel laureate Amartya Sen asserts, An efficient food distribution system is as important as food self-sufficiency. We can keep Asiaand the worldfed if we can correctly set our priorities. We can grow enough food and generate productive employment for the landless so they can buy their food from the market, while maintaining our natural resource base and preserving biodiversity. We can control population growth. We can provide every child with the right to be free from hunger, to be healthy, to go to school, and to eventually earn a decent livingand hope for a better tomorrow. Human beings must have hope to survive. If people in food-deficit countries see no prospect for ever being free from poverty, they cannot help but lose all hope. And with hopelessness, society unravels. Hunger or hope? Our actions today will decide whether Asias tomorrow is filled with famine or food security, poverty or prosperity. Asiaand the worldcannot afford for IRRI and its partners to fail. The stakes are simply too high. s

OPINION

Must There Be Poverty?

Muhammad Yunus Professor and Managing Director Grameen Bank, Bangladesh overty is not a natural state of humans. Poor people do not create poverty, nor do people enjoy being poor. Poverty is created by institutions, concepts, and policies. We need to go back to the drawing board to redesign these and remove the barriers. We must accept the position that we can create a poverty-free world. To do this, we must change our mind-set so that all humans can be equipped to work themselves out of poverty. Providing access to capital is the single most important step in helping to reduce poverty. But even more basic than that, we must address hunger. To be hungry is to be poor. And if people are poor, they are often also hungry or undernourished. The International Rice Research Institute was not created for the benefit of multinationals. IRRI exists because of hunger. There must be a strong connection between IRRI and reducing poverty. People must know that IRRI believes in a poverty-free world and has fixed its research agenda around this goal. Only then can IRRI and its Poor people in Asia partners succeed in helping to can live without change the worlds mind-set and grapes to make wine, doing what needs to be done. IRRI does not do research but they cannot live on rice for rices sake; it does research to benefit the poor. The without rice. world cannot afford to have scientists who only do research. All scientists need to have a picture of a hungry personand know they are working for that less fortunate person. All scientists need to think about how their research will help to provide extra rice for that person. High-yielding varieties have lowered rice prices and helped to create the feeling that theres enough rice. Alleviating the fear of famine has truly been one of IRRIs major successes. But this puts the responsibility on IRRI to give the signal when it sees things are not working out. s

Ronald P. Cantrell Director General

C. Dedolph

When scientists and the best of science are devoted to the problems of those who have less in life, that is equity and ethics at its best. For the millions of Asians for whom rice is life, science best serves its human purpose.
Gelia Castillo Emeritus Professor of Rural Sociology University of the Philippines

Combating hunger should be the topmost priority of the world community. As Nobel laureate in economics Amartya Sen says, Famines do not occur in stable democracies. An efficient food distribution system is as important as food self-sufficiency. Economic development leading to gainful employment is essential for combating hunger. Every night, 200 million Indians go to bed hungry, yet India exports 2-4 million tons of rice every year. If everyone had the purchasing power to buy sufficient food, there wouldnt be any surplus.
Gurdev S. Khush 1997 World Food Prize Laureate

R. Kendrick

C. Dedolph

Asia Goes Urban

Good for Rural Asia

Rice and Cities

Asia is a continent on the moveand its future will be a crowded one: by 2020 half its population will be urban. Is mass rural-urban migration good for the region?

espite all the social and environmental headaches it brings, urbanization has actually been good for rural Asia: landholdings have gotten bigger and labor shortages have forced farmers to mechanize, both of which contribute to increased efficiency in agriculture. Ruralurban migration has also eased the pressure on land in rural areas. In some places, urban slum dwellers are much better off than the rural landless and marginal landowners. Going urban requires a lot of planning for a smooth transition. Dr. Hossain says that some absolute musts involve decentralizing government to the local level and improving infrastructure, such as housing, communication systems, roads, electricity, water and sanitation, and education and health systemsand providing more access to capital and food.

oing urban brings good things to life. Just ask the hundreds of millions of Asians who have made the journey from the countryside to the city. Despite the pollution and slums, most say theyre better off. Asia is urbanand increasingly so, thanks to recent economic prosperity and industrial growth. Whether its hope for work and a better life, endemic poverty, natural disaster, or politics, migration has been the main reason for the swelling of the cities. But too many people crowding into too little space can spell environmental and social disaster. Today, the continent is home to nine of the worlds 14 megacities of more than 10 million people. And experts at the Asian Development Bank predict even more monster cities on the horizon: by 2015 Asia will have 17 of the worlds 27 megacities.

Bank. The key to preventing this, he believes, is to figure out why some people dont leave the farms and small cities, and learn from them about how to make life outside megacities more attractive. Theres no reason why one city should suck the entire country into it, says Professor Yunus. But what if everyone stayed put in the countryside? Then the situation of the poor would be much worse, says Dr. Rita Afsar, research fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and IRRI collaborator. Migration is typically adapted as a strategy for self-help.

Feeding the Cities

ne of the bonuses of urbanization is that rice demand per person should go down. Dr. Hossain and his colleagues have documented that, at the same income level, city people in Bangladesh and Thailand eat less rice than their rural relatives, primarily because city workers have less physically taxing work. But with 50 million new rice consumersor five new Calcuttas added each year, Asia still faces an uphill battle to feed these extra mouths, most of whom will be poor. Meet-

ing this challenge will require switching from a subsistence to commercial mentality, says Dr. Hossain. A smaller, more efficient rural population can support huge urban populations if the proper economic incentives exist and new technologies are widely adopted. The fragile flood-prone areas and the uplands will remain subsistence rice production areas and cannot be expected to help feed the cities. The greatest potential for increasing rice production lies in the rainfed lowlands, which may be able to contribute some extra rice to the cities. But production in these monsoon-dependent areas remains low. In eastern India, for example, yields are only about 2 tons per hectare compared with more than 5 tons in Punjab and Tamil Nadu, where all the rice land is irrigated. New technologies may help to boost production, but the outcome is uncertain. Keeping urban consumers fed will boil down to continued reliance on Asias traditional rice bowls: the highly productive, intensive irrigated rice-based systems. But these fields are already about as bountiful as they can be considering the rice plants genetics and current technologies and input levels. New technologies are needed to increase land productivity and input-use efficiency. Two of the most promising are a new plant type, which will have a yield advantage of about 20 percent over todays best varieties, and tropical hybrid rice, with a yield advantage of 15 percent over current varieties (see p. 32). Increased production from irrigated fields is an absolute must if rice prices are to remain affordable to the poor, says Gurdev Khush, IRRIs principal plant breeder. s

Urban Bloat

R. Cabrera

n 1965, Asia had a rural population of 1.5 billion and an urban population of 430 million. But today about one-third (1.2 billion) of the population is urban. By 2025, the rural population will not have changed from todays 2.3 billion, but the urban population will have soared to 2.5 billionabout half of Asias total. Urbanization is an inevitable element of the development process, says IRRI economist Mahabub Hossain. And in his opinion, rural to urban migration cannot be controlled as long as there are economic incentives for people to move. But a few monster cities arent desirable either, emphasizes the economist. Dhaka, for example, is a potential disaster in the making. In 1990, it was the 28th largest city in the world, with a population of 6.2 million and density of 5,050 persons per square kilometer. In 2015, it is projected to be the fifth largestand home to 19.5 million. We dont want to see Dhaka become a megacitya mega nightmare, says Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen

Cities and people are like sugar and ants. We shouldnt put all the sugar in the cities, because all the ants will go there. We need to sprinkle more sugar in other places.
Made Oka Economist, Center for Agro-Socioeconomic Research, Indonesia

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A. Ammayao-Hettel

Tales from Four Cities

Do people ever get used to the congestion, pollution, and slums of a megacity? If theres rice to eat and some work, most have hope for a better tomorrow.

Maintaining low rice prices through technological innovation is critical to stabilizing the extremely precarious lives of people like Mr. Kholita and his family.

Booming and Busting in Bangkok

idow Ron Konthongkam and her six grown-up children left their small rice farm in northern Thailand four years ago for one reason: pursuit of a better life. Klong Toey, Bangkoks largest slum, became their new home. But it is not exactly what one would call home sweet home. For the first few years, slum life was tolerable. The children all had jobs, and they had money enough to get by. But since mid-1997 and the economic turmoil, the family has once again plunged into hardship and misery reminiscent of the farming days. The children have all lost their jobs, with her youngest daughter Banchonrak clinging to her food server position the longest, but she was recently let go too.

Exhausted, worriedbut not hopeless. Her face reveals troublesand those of thousands of her neighborsas she talks about her lifes struggle. At 72 years old, Ms. Ron depends on her children for her daily rice. But they have no incomes. The tough old woman says she will stay put in Klong Toey, and her children will keep looking for work. Returning to her past in Petchaboon, where she buried her husband and six other children, is out of the question: I wont go back there.

Making Ends Meet in Manila

er address sounds as depressing as the place: Block 38, Welfareville, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila. A former government welfare area for orphans, Welfareville is now one of the sprawling citys biggest slums. It is home to drug dealers, prostitutes, and 46-year-old Bida Obeda, her alcoholic husband, and their 13 children who range in age from 2 to 26. She used to have a relatively profitable food

Jobless in Jakarta

(L-R) Ron Konthongkam in Bangkok, Bida Obeda in Manila, Kholita and Amena in Dhaka, Ratmah and her children in Jakarta

G. Hettel

o city in recent historylet alone one as big as Jakartahas suffered such a dramatic reversal of fortune. For more than two decades, millions of Indonesians streamed here from the countryside with dreams of bettering their lives, swelling the city and its suburbs to 20 million. But the 25-year run of growth, rising living standards, and prosperity came to a halt in 1997. The construction cranes have been hushed for some time now, and unfinished skyscrapers stand as mute reminders of more prosperous days. During the worst of the economic crisis, more than 15,000 workers lost their jobs every day in Jakarta. Islah is one of them. He lost his factory job almost a year ago. Now he hawks newspapers on a Bekasi street corner to earn enough rupiahs to buy his familys daily rice. Islah and his family mirror the plight of millions of others who are trapped in the suburbs, where they are coping until better times return (see p. 20). His wife Ratmah and daughters sell fruit at a local cooperative store set up by 30 jobless families. So far, the couple have kept their five children off the streets. About a decade ago, the couple escaped the uncertainty of farm life in Purwokerto on central Java to seek their fortunes in the big city. We came with hope of improving our lives, and we still do have hope, says Ms. Ratmah. Stranded between two worlds, the family plans to stay in Bekasi, a suburb that serves as a buffer between Jakarta and the countryside. Neither the

city nor the rice farms beyond can accommodate their needs. They visit their families in Purwokerto about once a year. Well never move back home, explains Ms. Ratmah. There arent any opportunities.

Dhaka the Dreamland

They can afford only two meals of rice each day, and typically theres not enough to go around. Some days, they eat only one meal. Usually they have some vegetables, but a little meat or fish is a luxury they get only once or twice a month. Were hungry every day, Mr. Kholita says. But we manage.

business, and her husband used to own a silkscreen printing business. Both went bankrupt a few years ago, forcing the family to move in with a brother-in-law. The industrious woman now earns money by taking in laundry, selling bread, and cooking food to sell to neighbors. We are used to the ups and downs of life, says Ms. Obeda. One day you have everything, and the next you have nothing. Although the impact of the financial crisis on the Philippines has not been as dramatic as in neighboring countries, the Obeda family feels the pain. They used to eat 6 kilograms of rice a day, but now they make do with 4. And when theres not enough money to buy 4 kilograms, the solution is simple: skip a meal, or the children who attend school dont eat lunch. Nine of the children are still at home, and all of them go to schoolwhen theres money. My dream is to see every one of my children finish school, but, her voice trails off. Still, life in a slum is better than in the province. I have no plan to go back homethere is nothing left for me there, she says. I was a self-supporting student when I came to Manila 30 years ago, and I will remain that way. s

ike millions of other Bangladeshis, Kholita left the countryside and headed for his dreamland: Dhaka. It was his only hope after a turbulent childhoodhis father died when Mr. Kholita was a little boy, and he grew up homeless. Life was hard then, he says. After spending years drifting from place to place in search of work, he ended up in the Agargaon slum, some time around 1960. Hes never left. For many years, he was a rickshaw puller but those days are over. Now Im old and cannot work, he says. So sometimes the 70-year-old begs. Like Mr. Kholita, most slum dwellers are migrants from the countryside. They typically do not have sufficient access to education, employment, and health facilities. Less than 20 percent of the eligible children attend schools, and infant mortality and maternal mortality are high. At least now he and his wife Amena, three children, a son-in-law, and a grandchild have a one-room hut, and public water pumps and latrines are close by. But they are desperately poor, and must rely on a nephew, who pulls a rickshaw, to help support them on the $10 or so he earns a week.

G. Hettel

We are used to the ups and downs of life. One day you have everything, and the next you have nothing.
Bida Obeda Manila

R. Cabrera

C. Dedolph

Rice and Politics

The Politics of Rice

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Governments in Asia go to great lengths to protect their rice. Why is this grain so politically sacredand powerful?

In many of the poorer Asian countries, economic development and industrial growth are closely linked to a reliable supply of cheap rice. If rice prices go up, workers will demand more pay, which in turn lowers the economys competitive strength in the world market. Whether rich or poor, most Asian countries follow the same food security strategy: they grow most of their own rice, maintain a public-sector monopoly in external trade, and hold rice stocks to dampen sharp price fluctuations. But countries do not necessarily require self-sufficiency in rice to achieve or sustain food security, explains Dr. Hossain. A few countries have proven this point. Malaysia imports 40 percent of its rice, and wealthy Singapore and Hong Kong (which doesnt produce any rice) have better records of food security than their major rice-growing neighbors. The critical factor for food security is self-reliance, the economist says, which requires favorable export growth so that those with a rice deficit can import food from those with surpluses who can produce it at a lower cost. Self-reliance also requires entitlement, as coined by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, which is the assurance of productive employment so that people can buy food from the market.

Indonesia provides a sobering lesson about what could happen in the absence of any government intervention. The stunning plunge of the Indonesian rupiah during the financial crisisfrom Rp 2,500 to 15,000 to the dollarwould have triggered a sixfold increase in the domestic rice price within a few months, while consumer incomes remained stagnant. Rice prices did increase substantially, but, thanks to the governments stabilization policies, the increase was much less than a factor of six and was not abrupt. Without these policies, widespread famine might have occurred. In the name of stability, however, many governments have intervened excessively in domestic grain marketing, ignoring the crucial role of the private sector. Much research, at IRRI and elsewhere, has shown that private traders are more efficient at moving farm inputs and outputs. The challenge for economists and policymakers is to find cost-effective mechanisms that provide for adequate stability, yet still preserve as many of the benefits of free trade as possible and allow the private sector to have a dominant role, says Dr. Dawe.

All for One

ith the increasing costs of labor, land, and water, it will be more efficient for richer countries to shift resources away from growing their own rice and buy their supplies from countries with a comparative advantage in producing rice. Before the economic crisis in Asia, many political leaders were in favor of adopting this strategybut no longer, says Dr. Hossain. Because the political costs of failing to feed their people are so incredibly high, most governments are not willing to take this risk. Asian nations need to collaborate mutually to strengthen agricultural research and develop irrigation and marketing infrastructure, says Dr. Hossain. International support is required to address food security in places with extensive poverty, that are threatened by political instability, or that have a vulnerable natural resource base. All this requires political will, changes in philosophy, and regional cooperation. What happens to rice in Asia will largely be based on politicsthe same as always. s

Moving to Free Trade

he Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade brought agriculture into the spotlight of negotiations. This will bring many benefits, the most prominent of which is that once subsidies and tariffs are removed, global agricultural production will become more efficient. But, in the opinion of IRRI economist David Dawe, the transition to free trade in rice must be managed carefully, especially in poor Asian countries, so that the food security of vulnerable segments of the population is not endangered. Several important reasons exist why rice presents some special complications when it comes to free trade. When compared with the world markets for wheat and maize, that for rice is extremely small and unstable. Even though the international rice trade has increased significantly in the past few years, only 6.6 percent of the worlds rice crop will be sold on the world market in 1999. World rice prices are more volatile, and no futures market of any significant size exists. At times, the world rice market has even closedmaking it next to impossible to obtain rice at any price. With many Asian countries being large relative to the size of the world market, relying on it could mean very large increases in world prices if a major harvest failure occurs. Because rice makes up such a large share of poor farmers incomes and poor consumers expenditures on food, unstable prices can lead to large and abrupt swings in purchasing power for these individuals. Such risk and uncertainty contradict the very notion of food security. Allowing world markets to determine domestic rice prices on a month-to-month basis is probably not the recipe for food security in Asiaat least not now, says Dr. Dawe.

ice rules in Asia. Alone, it provides 30-76 percent of peoples daily calories. No single food in the West comes close to matching rices dietary dominance in the East. A secure, bountiful supply of rice in Asia has typically ensured food securityand economic, political, and social stability. The first sign of civil unrest can often be traced to rising rice prices, says IRRI economist Mahabub Hossain. Poor distribution and lack of purchasing power are also often responsible for hardship, as experienced in the famines in Bengal in 1943-44 and in Bangladesh in 1974-75.

Have Rice, Will Keep Working

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rban workers and the rural landless, who spend 5070 percent of their total income on rice, cannot tolerate drastic price increases. Poor rice farmers also have limited ability to tolerate sudden, sharp price declines. With the danger of disrupting political stability, its no wonder rice holds such a lofty position in Asian culture and is of such critical importance to government policymaking. The rule of rice and prosperity in Asia is simple: make sure the masses have enough rice to eat if the country wants to maintain social and political stability. But what is it about rice that makes it more sacred than other staples? And why is maintaining domestic rice security such a political issue?

For those of us on the food production front, let us all remember that world peace will not be built on empty stomachs and human misery. Deny the smallscale farmers of the developing world access to modern factors of production, and humankind will be doomed, not from poisoning and environmental meltdown, as some say, but from starvation and social and political chaos.
Norman Borlaug 1970 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

From Rice to RichesAnd Back to Rice

With the economic crisis melting the tiger economies, rice has reemerged as a powerful forceand as an old friend. Southeast Asia is learning some painful lessons as dramatically different economic and political fates unfold.

Rice Gets Thailand Through Crisis

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or most rural poor in Indonesia, life is much the same as always. Largely untouched by the recent boom years, and largely untouched by the economic crisis, their lives continue to be both impoverished and nourished by rice. Outside Bojong Jaya village in West Java, the husband-wife team of Sanaim and Aliah works in unison with 25 other laborers, all busy threshing and sacking rice. For every seven 50-kilogram sacks packed, they get to keep one. Their earnings will amount to about 15 sacks, and thats it until the next harvest. Like many of Indonesias landless rural poorsome 11 million households on Java alonethey are oblivious to the price of rice: whatever they earn, they eat.

At least we have rice to feed our family, says Ms. Aliah. If only the hundreds of thousands of jobless families in Jakarta could say the same thing. Their trouble has been double: little money and high rice prices.

Down But Not Out

iat used to be a security guard at a Jakarta construction site. He was laid off in early 1998, and has been jobless ever since. He, his wife Nenti, and their family, after months of searching for work, found themselves in Bekasi, an eastern suburb of Jakarta. Their luck suddenly changed for the better when they became part of a self-help seed and feed project sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme and administered by
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the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs. Each of the participating familiesa thousand or so is given rice and vegetable seeds to plant on abandoned suburban land, and enough rice to eat until their first harvest. Then theyre on their own for deciding what to do with the produce: eat it, sell it, or replant it. Mr. Miat says his family is extremely grateful. The project has helped us to hold on until I can find a job again. And the children, Firman and Miasi, have been able to stay in grade school.

villages (and some have), Indonesias agricultural sector simply could not absorb them. The countryside is already oversaturated with millions of subsistence farmerswith tiny holdings of a third of a hectare or lesswho have no choice but to grow rice to survive.

Regaining Food Security

Back to Rice

ore than 5 million new entrants including the Miat familyhave moved into the agricultural sector since August 1997, when the financial crisis hit Indonesia. Its not exactly traditional agriculture, nor is it by choice, but peri-urban agriculture is helping many jobless Indonesians cope with economic hardship. With most jobless persons being too embarrassed to go back home, the suburbs and small cities around Jakarta are becoming socioeconomic buffer zones. With their vast tracts of land once destined for urban development but now abandonedthese areas are helping the jobless scrape out a living until better times return. Even if millions did go back to their home
(L-R) Sanaim, Aliah, Nenti and Miat

G. Hettel

efore the crisis, Indonesia had made excellent progress in reducing poverty. Now, however, no work and high rice prices have temporarily thrown many people back into poverty. In less than two years from the start of the financial crisis, the cost of a kilogram of rice at Jakartas Cipinang rice market more than doubledfrom Rp 2,000 to Rp 5,000 ($0.23 to $0.58). With families reserving every rupiah possible to buy food, malnutrition has become widespread, and many children are dropping out of school. International organizations, such as the United Nations Childrens Fund (Unicef), fear malnutrition will cause the loss of an entire generation of Indonesians, with the Fund reporting more than half the children under two to be malnourished. Even in the Bekasi UNDP project, Mr. Miat says his family is down to two meals a day: cassava in the morning and rice in the evening. It makes for a long day, he sighs. Recently, however, a good harvest partly boosted by the governments 300 percent cropping intensity project and large imports have brought rice prices down. The government has also stepped in with a program to sell cheap rice to poor people for only Rp 1,000 ($0.12) per kilogram.

ince the early 1970s, rice production in the country has more than doubledone of the most dramatic jumps the world has ever seen. But, after having achieved rice selfsufficiency in 1984, Indonesia is once again the worlds largest importer of rice. The food insecurity of the past months can be mainly blamed on the vicious financial crisis in which the rupiah plummeted 80 percent against the dollar. Poor harvests, caused by the El Nioinflicted drought in late 1997 and early 1998, aggravated the situation. The economic cloud hanging gloomily over the country may still have a silver lining after all, as Indonesia realizes that agricultureand ricehas an important role to play in providing the initial impetus for economic recovery. Increased rice production can boost rural incomes and promote stability in urban markets. In so doing, it will create a stronger foundation for a robust national economy, and, at the same time, help to meet future increases in rice demand from the more than two million Indonesians being born annually. The government is allocating much of its social safety net funds to strengthen the rice sector, including making available good-quality seeds and subsidized credit, and restoring rural roads and irrigation. The poverty caused by unemployment and the general decline of the economy, however, cannot be overcome solely by increased rice production, says Sjarifudin Baharsjah, independent chairman of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Capital investment needs to return and macroeconomics needs to be managed better. Affordable rice can help too, by creating a climate conducive to investment, which will in turn foster jobs and employment. s

osters and billboards in central Bangkok picture His Majesty The King Bhumibol Adulyadej with a sickle in his right handreinforcing the importance of rice for Thailand. The strong rice sector has saved our country from real, real trouble, says Somporn Isvilanonda, associate professor of economics at Thailands Kasetsart University and a longtime IRRI collaborator. Rice remains one of Thailands most powerful tools for earning cash to pay back its debts. The rural poor have suffered less than the urban poor, many of whom have lost their jobs and must pay more for white rice, says Mr. Somporn. In Bangkok, even the price of low-quality rice has nearly doubled, from 10 to 17 baht ($0.26 to $0.44) per kilogram. Eating less rice is an absolute last resort for a Thai, so poor people are instead cutting down on vegetables, meat, and fish. Repairman Chatchai Meepohsom says the higher prices have not decreased his familys rice consumption: the seven still eat 60 kilograms a month. We just make do with less of other things, he explains. In an unusual situation of reverse migration, an estimated 12-18 percent of the urban people have actually been leaving Bangkok and returning to their home villages. How many of these people can be absorbed into the rural workforce depends on the rural community and whether some activities still require new labor. Perhaps it is the Thai farmer who is weathering the economic storm the best. The baht devaluation was good for rice farmers in terms of domestic price increases, says Mr. Somporn. Before devaluation, the farm price was 4,800 baht per ton and after, 7,600 baht. With good profits, farmers even expanded rice area during the wet season. But then the severe drought hit in late 1998, and the rice crop suffered from lack of water. In 1998, the country retained its position as the worlds largest rice exporter, shipping 5.5 million tons. In the coming years, rice will continue to play a crucial role in Thailands economic recovery and in helping to reduce poverty in rural areas. s

How Rice Can Help

REVOLUTIONARY RICE:

Rice and Health

More Nutrition for Women and Children

With malnutrition still claiming entire generations in Asia, rice rich in iron and zinc could dramatically improve the diets of women and childrenand provide hope for healthy, productive lives.

Good nutrition is good health. Eating a balanced diet that includes rice and cereals energizes the body and produces strong minds.
Juan M. Flavier Senator, Philippines

With the world needing more nutritious foodnot just more foodscientists asked: If modern high-yielding varieties are part of the malnutrition problem, can they not also be part of the solution?

The Secrets in the Soil

very night, this Bangladeshi girl joins at least two billion other people who go to sleep hungry. Their hunger, however, is not the growling, aching kind. Rather it is silent, insidiously stunting their bodies and brains, weakening their immune systems, and sapping their energy and prospects for living productive lives. Their hidden hunger is malnutrition, which contributes to killing an estimated 40,000 people each day. Most of the victims are impoverished women and children, and many are in Asia. Their limited diets primarily comprise one basic food: rice, rice, and more rice. Many eat as much as 214 kilograms of rice each year (more than half a kilogram a day), providing them with up to 76 percent of their daily calories, and half their iron and zinc. While rice and other starches fill the belly, they are rather empty nutritionally speaking. Even slightly more nutritious rice could mean healthier people. If the iron and zinc content could be doubledor tripledthe health of these at-risk people could be dramatically improved. In what appears to be a truly exciting breakthrough in human nutrition, IRRI and its partners have developed high-iron and -zinc rice varieties that can combat malnutrition.

says Dr. Howarth Bouis, a research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, D.C., and coordinator of the CGIAR Micronutrient Project (see p. 25). Fortification and supplementation programs have proven too expensive and relatively ineffective in reaching the billions of malnourished people. Iron fortification costs just 10 cents a year per person. But for a country such as India, thats $93 million annually. And thats why packing more nutrients into grain is such a revolutionaryyet basicway to attack malnutrition. The cost of a plant breeding program to develop iron-rich varieties of a crop is peanuts compared with the benefits humanity could receive, says Robin Graham, a professor of plant science at the University of Adelaide. If we can just get modern varieties rich in iron and zinc into farmers fieldsand then the rice into peoplewe will make major progress in combating basic malnutrition in South and Southeast Asia. With three-fourths of Asias farmers already choosing to grow the high-yielding, short-duration modern varieties, this may just work.

ew have paid attention to improving the nutritional portfolio of starchy staples. In the 1960s and 70s, scientists at IRRI and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center tried, with varying success, to breed for improved protein content in high-yielding rice and maize. For a long time, researchers were discouraged from doing much of anything related to nutrition. Until 1992. Stimulated by the Philippine governments effort to combat iron malnutrition by artificially fortifying milled rice, IRRI plant breeders Dharmawansa Senadhira and Glenn Gregorio started studying the rice plants reaction to high iron content in the soil. At about the same time, the CGIAR Micronutrient Project started, and the scientists expanded the work to include zinc.

Help was sought from Dr. Graham and his team in Australia to precisely measure nutrient content in rice varieties, which they found to vary greatly in both iron and zinc. Of the first 1,000 samples analyzed, iron in brown rice ranged from 7.5 to 24.4 milligrams/kilogram (mg/kg), and zinc content from 15.9 to 58.4 mg/kg. Todays commonly grown varieties, such as IR64, contain about 12 mg/kg of iron and 25 mg/kg of zinc in brown rice. Not surprising, highest in these nutrients were old traditional varieties, mainly from eastern India where zinc- and iron-deficient soils are common. These harsh soils have definitely influenced the origin of rice with high mineral content in the grain, says Dr. Gregorio. Floating rice Jalmagna is a good example: grown on alkaline soils for centuries, it had almost twice as much iron as IR36 and nearly 40 percent more zinc than IR64. Madhukar, a popular variety in some rainfed and deepwater areas, showed moderately high iron content and very high zinc. And theres a bonus: if the rice smells good while its cooking, chances are its packed with iron and zinc too. Scientists believe that the traits of high iron and zinc are linked to the gene for aroma, making it easy for them to identify.

Under Their Noses

Green Revolution Blues

Hidden Hunger Out in the Open

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C. Dedolph

ew inroads have been made in the battle against malnutrition among Asias poorest of the poor. According to the World Health Organization, more than 2 billion people worldwide are weakened by a lack of iron in their diets, 250 million are vitamin A deficient, and 1.5 billion are at risk for brain impairment because of iodine deficiency. Although the prevalence of zinc deficiency is unknown (no test exists), it is likely a problem wherever malnutrition occurs (see p. 25). Were still losing one generation after another to malnutrition and this just shouldnt be happening anymore,

n a dream come true, plant breeders discovered a high-iron and high-zinc, high-yielding conventionally bred rice line with excellent grain quality already on the shelf at IRRI. IR68144 has excellent grain type, is aromatic, yields about 4.2 tons per hectare, and has an iron content of 20 mg/kg. It produces not quite as much as popular variety IR72, which has an iron content of only 12 mg/kg when grown under the same conditions. It has grain quality like that of IR64 and is suitable for consumers in much of Asia, including countries starving for nutrition, such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, and the Philippines. Thanks to IRRI breeders skills, a little serendipity, and this good luck, the project is five years ahead of schedule. But this has also caused a problem. We didnt envisage being so far down the track so quickly, explains Dr. Bouis. Because no breeding was involved, we need funding sooner than anticipated to support the final step: long-term feeding trials.

he Green Revolutions impact on diet appears to be huge. While some diseases (such as pellagra and neurolathyrism in India) have been eliminated through the increased availability of rice and wheat, eating more of these grains may have actually increased micronutrient malnutrition. In the all-out effort to avert widespread famine and simply feed the ever-increasing number of mouths, scientists mostly ignored nutrition in the new rice and wheat varieties. Farmers also commonly abandoned planting nutrient-balancing crops, such as pulses, in favor of the high-yielding new cereal varieties. We have gone a long way toward solving one problem, dietary energy, says Dr. Bouis. We have, however, virtually ignored another that is just as important: dietary quality.

C. Dedolph

Hungers dictatorship does not respect nations or ideologies; it destroys men and women equally, destroys the projects of young people, and does not allow our older people to rest.
Ernesto Sbato Novelist and essayist, Argentina

Making Nutritionists Believe

o far, so good, but a major obstacle remains in convincing nutritionists that the iron and zinc in this rice are bioavailable for humansand dont just go down the tube, as Dr. Graham puts it. The optimistic scientists are putting the high-nutrient rice through rigorous testing to prove beyond a doubt that this extra iron is present after milling and absorbed in humans.

Florentino S. Solon

lthough the science is new and risky, researchers are confident they can do more than just increase rice supplies as food. Were optimistic that were on to something big, says Dr. Graham. We are calling for a new paradigm for agriculture: sustainable, productive, nutritious food systems. To achieve our goals, we need a new alliance of agricultural and health professionals researching and defining those systems. If they succeed, the lives of the poorest of the poorespecially women and childrencan be drastically improved through more nutritious rice. s

ahernaz, who lives in the Agargaon slum in Dhaka, cannot make enough breast milk to satisfy her babys hunger. Its no wonder: she says she eats only one meal of rice a day. In Bangladesh, two out of every three children are malnourished, shorter and lighter than what they should be, anemic, and unable to ward off diseases. This comes as no surprise in a country where rice supplies 76 percent of all calories, and people are lucky if they eat two meals a day. The result is one generation of weak, malnourished people giving birth to another in a never-ending cycle that is simply alarming, says Khursheed Jahan, a nutrition professor at the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dhaka. Cooking habits, polished rice, and the cultural tradition that men eat firstand more and better than the womencombined with poverty make a recipe for pervasive malnutrition. Children and women are hardest hit. Professor Jahans hope? Opportunities must be created for rural peopleboth women and mento become more active income generators through increased agricultural production and cottage industry, she stresses. Women will spend their money on their children. But if they arent the ones who earn it, they have no control. s

Starving for Nutrition

C. Dedolph

ood news comes again from the Interna-ional Rice Research Institute: more nutritious rice with high iron and zinc right in the grain. This is exciting for nutritionists and the entire worldbecause so much of humanity depends on this cereal. Rice competes closely with wheat as the worlds most important crop. It is grown in more than 100 countries and, when compared with other cereals, has the highest food yield. Together with wheat and maize, rice directly supplies more than half of all the calories humans consume. Increased iron and zinc content in rice will definitely be a boon to rice-consuming countries, many of which suffer from some form of hidden hunger. The most common are proteinenergy malnutrition and micronutrient malnutrition, primarily iron deficiency anemia, vitamin A deficiency, and iodine-deficiency disorders, in addition to deficiencies in thiamine, riboflavin, calcium, and zinc. Many of these populations show a high incidence of low birth weight, high infant mortality and high mortality for children under five years, and a high prevalence of moderately and severely underweight children. Increased iron in rice is highly significant because anemia is the most widespread micronutrient deficiency in the world today, despite it being preventable. Iron improves the cognitive performance of children, increases worker productivity, and reduces low birth weights and deaths caused by anemia. Zinc, on the other hand, is known for its potency in promoting the growth of children and is associated with decreased diarrhea incidence. A fundamental shortcoming of todays ordinary rice arises in its processing. Rice is milled because people like their rice to be very white, and because its easier to cook. However, the methods used to remove the hulls

J. Victolero

Experiments conducted in collaboration with Dr. Ross Welch and his team at the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services Plant, Soil, and Nutrition Laboratory at Cornell University verified that the extra iron and zinc are available to rats and human colon cell cultures (which simulate a human intestine). But the gut of a rat is different from that of a human, and colon cells in a petri dish are not the same as the real thing. And that is why human feeding trials must be done.

In collaboration with researchers at the Institute of Human Nutrition of the University of the Philippines Los Baos, a large-scale trial is under study to begin in mid-1999 at a convent in the Philippines. It could be the perfect place for a study, says Dr. Gregorio. The postulants and novitiates are all young women of about the same age who eat the same amount of the same food every day.

CGIAR Micronutrient Project

GUEST ESSAY Building Healthier Societies Through More Nutritious Rice

Nutrient-Dense Food for the Poor

Next Steps

an mineral- and vitamin-dense varieties of staple foods be developed? Can farmers be convinced to grow them? And would human nutrition be significantly improved for less cost than nutrition interventions? A group of determined plant scientists, human nutritionists, and social scientists believe the answers are yes, yes, and yes! They have teamed up in a daring, long-shot project to try to improve human nutrition through staple foods: wheat, rice, maize, cassava, and beans. Their target is to naturally boost these foods iron, zinc, vitamin A, and iodine contentand, in the process, bring nutrition to the forefront of the CGIARs breeding priorities. So far, rice has been the star. If we want 8 billion healthy people on Earth, the agriculture and health sectors need to work together, says Howarth Bouis, an IFPRI research fellow and the projects leader. The CGIAR Micronutrient Project is a truly international effort, with CIAT, CIMMYT, and IRRI participating in partnership with the University of Adelaide, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services Plant, Soil, and Nutrition Laboratory, and the USDAARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center. The Danish International Development Agency has provided major funding for the project, with the United States Agency for International Development supplying startup money (and the challenge to begin the project) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research supporting activities at the University of Adelaide. While this project is using conventional breeding to increase nutrition, others are exploring the potential of biotechnology to increase the nutrition of rice. Groups in Japan and Switzerland have transformed rice with the phytoferritin gene from soybean. Although phytoferritins bioavailabilty has not yet been tested, this achievement may be useful in further boosting the iron content of rice. A Rockefeller-funded project is attempting to put vitamin A into rice, which in turn could increase the efficiency of absorption of iron by the human gut. s

from the grain and the subsequent polishing considerably reduce the cereals nutritional value. Likewise, milling removes not only the outer layers of the grain but also a significant amount of fat, protein, and other nutrients. The iron content of 100 grams of ordinary rice drops from 14 mg (when the bran and hulls are still attached) to 1 mg after milling, and then to 0.6 mg once this well-milled rice is cooked. Washing and cooking compound this severe loss of nutrients, with nearly all the B vitamins being thrown out with the wash water. In the Philippines, a laudable attempt was made to enrich rice by fortifying it with thiamine and other nutrients. The program faltered because millers balked at the extra expense of buying the nutrients for fortification. Dietary supplements often have a similar economic burden. The result? Unsustainable fortification and supplementation programs. This is why the genetic method of increasing nutrients in the grain is more advantageous to society: once the varieties are developed, the extra nutrition is free with every harvest. Iron and zinc combine to form a strong team in the fight against malnutrition, a scourge that cripples the body, mind, and spirit, mortgaging the futures of mostly young children and pregnant and lactating women. A formidable part of our defense can be this more nutritious rice, which can substantially nourish efforts to build strong and healthy Dr. Solon is the executive director of the Nutrition societies in the future. s Center of the Philippines. A medical doctor and public health and nutrition specialist, he pioneered vitamin A fortification and has been a longtime proponent of nutrition education. Dr. Solon is a member of the Nutrition Advisory Panel of the World Health Organization, a consultant for the Washington, D.C.-based International Life Sciences Institute, and a former presidential adviser on health and nutrition.

Rice and Peace

Cambodias Long Journey Back

Crushed by years of civil strife and hunger, Cambodians are rebuilding their nation. Rice research is helping to feed the country, reclaim time, and replant hope.
he 1970s and early 80s were times when normal life ceased in Cambodia, and few had enough to eat. Most farmers stopped growing rice. One and a half million people died. Today, peace and rice are at the core of Cambodias recovery. Recent democratic elections and the opening of the economy have renewed hope for a return to normalcy. But many families remain on the edge, impoverished, hungry, and with little hope. For them, the starting point must be rice: 85 percent of the people are rice farmers, and rice provides three-fourths of the daily calories. We dont want to beg for rice from other countries, says Lim Kean Hor, Cambodian Secretary of State. Rice is the best way to improve food security, stimulate economic development, and help poor farmers.

Lost Varieties Returned

ne of the most dramatic stories about the resurrection of rice research in Cambodia is the return of the lost indigenous rice varieties. Many traditional Cambodian rice varieties disappeared during the civil strife because seed reserves were eaten and farmers were discouraged from growing deepwater rice. Fortunately, 765 duplicate samples had been sent to the International Rice Genebank in the Philippines. At the governments request, IRRI returned the safely conserved seeds. These new traditional varieties are once again growing in Cambodian farmers fieldsas they have been for centuries. Nineteen of the 34 varieties released since 1990 have been from these restored seeds and more recent in-country collection efforts. The varieties all have the letters CAR, which signify Cambodian rice. Dr. Nesbitt predicts that these high-yielding and goodtasting varieties will spread throughout rainfed areasif enough good seed is made available to farmers. Seed multiplication is increasingly being done through nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and multilateral aid programs.

opment (AusAID), the Cambodia-IRRI-Australia Project (CIAP) was launched in 1987 with a dual agenda: increase rice production as quickly as possible to improve food security, and develop Cambodias agricultural research capacity. You cant have development without food. In Cambodia, rice is food and central to life, says Bill Costello, First Secretary of AusAID in Cambodia. Thats why Australia is assisting Cambodia through CIAP.

Listening to the Farmers

IAP has been trying to hear the voice of farmers in everything it does. We try to get ideas from farmers and build on their experiences, says CIAP agricultural economist Peter Cox. With the majority of Cambodians being subsistence farmers, creating appropriate, low-cost technologies is challenging. We are cognizant that not all

In the Rice Again

the technologies being developed are suitable for the poorest of the poor, says Dr. Nesbitt. But as they become better off, they will be able to use them. Some farmers say that CIAP technology is too costly, says Seung Keoviseth, CIAP socioeconomic assistant since 1995. We try to learn from these people by asking what would be useful and affordable. CIAP has been listening to what farmersand rural landless peoplehave to say through on-farm experiments, farmer participatory research, integrated pest management (IPM) experiments, and surveys. The key is flexibility. Different strategies are needed for different farmers, explains Mak Solieng, CIAP socioeconomic specialist. If they are very poor, we try to fit production strategies to their situations. Innovative, appropriate technologies, some of which are very low-cost, have been the result. Integrated pest management provides a good example. CIAP entomologists have developed appropriate IPM techniques, shared them with farmers through field schools, and encouraged them to do their own experiments. Pesticide use is still low in Cambodia, so the timing is perfect to implement IPM. Weeds cause yield losses of 20-30 percent, much of which could be recaptured if farmers level their fields and prepare them better. Farmers dont need big equipment to level their fields, they just need water and shovels, says agricultural engineer Joe Rickman. Seed quality could be improved through the widespread adoption of simple farmer practices, and massive waste stopped. Mr. Rickman estimates that only 20 percent of all

Starting from Ground Zero

he Vietnam War, Cambodias own civil war, and then Pol Pots Khmer Rouge regime plunged the country into a time when little rice was harvested. When liberation forces entered Cambodia in 1979, the countrys ricegrowing capacity had shrunk to only 20 percent of the 3.8 million tons harvested in 1970. Its research and extension infrastructureboth human and physicalwas destroyed. The irrigation systems were demolished or dilapidated, and fields were planted with millions of antipersonnel mines instead of rice. The national genebank was gone, and hungry refugees had eaten seed stocks. Farmers did the best they could, but food insecurity remained a serious problem. In 1986, Cambodias Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) invited IRRI to help the country restore Cambodias rice capability. With funding from the Australian Agency for International Devel-

R. Cabrera

R. Cabrera

ambodia reached a milestone in 1995: self-sufficiency in rice for the first time in 25 years. Even more amazing, the country also produced a rice surplus of 139,000 tons of milled rice for export. Cambodian farmers have kept these production levels up ever since. In May 1997, Chann Saphan, the Undersecretary of State for Agriculture, unequivocally attributed Cambodias return to surplus rice production to research. More farmers planting higher-yielding varieties from IRRI and CIAP, expanded dryseason rice area, improved pest management, and increased distribution and use of fertilizer are the main reasons, says Harry Nesbitt, CIAP team leader and agronomist since 1988. When both the dry-season and wet-season crops are combined, 1.1 million tons more rice (worth $126 million) was eaten by Cambodians or sold in 1997 over 1992 amounts. If only 15 percent of this amount were attributed to rice research, the value would be $18.9 million, which exceeds the total funds invested in CIAP. Three-fourths of this additional rice is from the wetseason crop, which 80 percent of Cambodian farmers grow. Despite the national surplus, 40 percent of the population is still short of food, illustrating that food security involves more than just increasing rice production.

We dont want to beg for rice from other countries. Rice is the best way to improve food security, stimulate economic development, and help poor farmers.
Lim Kean Hor Secretary of State, Cambodia (Talking with farmers and extensionists at a CIAP field day) (

CIAP Achievements 1989-1999

s s

Released 34 varieties Developed recommendations for efficient fertilizer use Created new approach for identifying Cambodian soils Developed crop protection strategies using environment-sound integrated pest management practices Demonstrated value of land leveling and on-farm water conservation techniques Conducted quantitative socioeconomic surveys that have contributed to the understanding of Cambodian rice-farming households Introduced a farming systems approach to integrate other crops into the rice farm Furthered the professional development of women agricultural scientists and technicians Sponsored formal and informal training in-country and abroad Developed research infrastructure across 16 provinces

bodia-Australia Agricultural Extension Project. CIAP also works with NGOs in tackling issues such as banning hazardous pesticides and promoting IPM. These organizations are in a much better position to extend the results of research, says Dr. Nesbitt, who adds that CIAP also benefits from NGO experiences.

Developing People, Sharing Information

n a resource-poor country such as Cambodia, people are its greatest asset. Improving the capacity of Cambodians to do their own research continues to be CIAPs long-term goal. Over the past 10 years, CIAP has sponsored 4,500 participants in courses, workshops, and conferences in Cambodia. Nearly 300 have attended short-term training courses, study tours, and conferences outside of Cambodia. Three of the CIAP-sponsored PhD candidates have returned with their degrees and are playing key roles in establishing CARDI. Dr. Mak is one of them. Eight others are still studying. CIAP has also been active in publishing books, maps, and training materials to share its results. Rice-related training videotapes have been regularly aired on national television, and CIAP has helped to organize the Cambodian Society of Agriculture.

R. Cabrera

Displaced But Not Defeated

are survivors. Displaced and impoverished, the family struggled through years of hard times. Just when their precarious lives seemed to be stabilizing, Ms. Sokhas husband made the mistake of stepping on a land mine one day while cutting firewood in 1991. After living on the side of the road for years, the family now has a small wooden hut on stilts in Battambang Province. Ms. Sokha has her own rattan mat business and says she owes her livelihood to an NGO called Pteak Toek Doung. She sells a mat for 9,000 riel or 100 baht ($2.40). Each one takes three days to weavetwo if her son helps. She sells herbs and a few chickens now and then. Sometimes she works as a laborer to weed rice fields. The children pitch in too, hunting for plants and seeds for herbal medicine and

Source: AusAID

Handing Over the Responsibility

seed planted establishes, meaning that 160,000 tons of rice rots in the fieldrice that could be eaten.

Building Rice Research Capacity

IAPs long-term work has been to build infrastructure: physical and human. The permanency of rice research has hinged on the government establishing the Cambodian Agricultural Research Institute (CARDI), which is now coming to life. A long and painful process, Dr. Nesbitt says it took nine years to resolve a land ownership dispute before the government could provide 70 hectares for the CARDI field station in 1997. From these rice fields has risen CARDI: a training center, shed, eight kilometers of roads,

and one kilometer of irrigation canals. To celebrate the achievement, a field day was held in October 1998 to inaugurate the training center and to provide an opportunity for more than 500 peoplefarmers, extensionists, NGO workers, donor representatives, and private agricultural entrepreneursto learn more about rice research. Im happy to visit here, said farmer Tol Kim, who owns one hectare of rice land near the station. I came to learn.

Partnerships in Development

or research to be useful, its results need to get to the people who can use them. CIAP freely shares its information, recommendations, and experiences with NGOs, semigovernment organizations, international organizations, and anyone else who needs ricerelated information. A recent partner in getting the information out has been the Department of Agricultural Extension, assisted by the new Cam-

C. Dedolph

okha Cithoun and her four children

he impact of a decades worth of rice research in Cambodia has been stunning: rice self-sufficiency, 34 varieties released, researchers and engineers trained, infrastructure rebuilt, national rice genetic resources restored, and an extensive network of government and nongovernment collaborators established. AusAIDs consistent funding commitment has been a key element in achieving the projects long-term goals, as has been IRRIs institutional support. These accomplishments can be attributed to the excellent spirit of partnership among CIAP team members, and are a good indication that Cambodia is recovering. With the birth of CARDI, CIAP will be phased out, and the Khmer staff will take complete responsibility for rice research. We have to work hard, says Dr. Mak. We are the fruit of CIAP, and Cambodia is depending on us. s

wild morning glory (a leafy green vegetable) to sell. Sometimes her children hire out as laborers, and her 14-year-old son (who is extremely small for his age) cuts rattan. He earns 15 cents a day. Ms. Sokha says her most serious problem is finding food for her family. Sometimes my money is gone, and I havent sold any mats. She spends most of their money on riceevery other bit goes to education. Three of the children are in school, but the money is just not enough to send the youngest. The school charges about $1 per semester, plus the additional expenses of chalk, pencils, books, school clothes, and 3 cents per day extra for the teacher. She says she cannot afford to buy her son a school shirt and trousers. Ms. Sokha says that if you cannot pay the extra daily fee, the teachers will erase the childs name from the roster. She recently sold five chickens, with all the money going to the school. I dont have property, so the only thing I can give my children is education, she says without bitterness. They need skills to support themselves. s

Eight in 6 Billion
A few among the many, these people are just a handful of Asias poor. Someday, they hope to have the right to be free from hunger, be healthy, go to school, and earn a decent livingand have hope for a better tomorrow.

Nine-year-old Ismail sells cigarettes, betel nut, and chewing gum outside Dhakas Farmgate Market. He earns less than $1 a day. Most of his money goes to buy rice for his familys two daily meals. He has never gone to school. Already grown-up, Ismail says he will do this for the rest of his life.

Wanrop Hirikul, a community leader in Bangkoks Klong Toey slum, came up with an innovative recycling idea where garbageglass, plastic, and old newspapersis collected by the slum dwellers and traded for eggs, rice, and other food. I believe a cooperative project like this can help the urban poor improve their standard of living and selfesteem and the communitys appearanceall at the same time, he says.

R. Cabrera

R. Cabrera

Unlike many Asians, farmer Tong Chan of Dongkalungnur village in Lao PDRs Champassak Province says she wants her son to be a rice farmer when he grows up.

G. Hettel

Juan Reyes (not his real name) used to be a security guard until he was shot on duty in 1990. Now he operates a food stall with his wife and three children in Mandaluyong in Metro Manila. The family earns about $8 daily, which barely meets their needs. We are scraping the bottom to get by.

R. Cabrera

C. Dedolph

Cambodian El Soey says she and her daughter are often hungry. They cannot afford to buy rice, so they pick wild vegetables, hunt for crabs and snails in the rice fields, and sometimes go to the Buddhist pagoda to get rice. She says she thinks about taking her daughter to an orphanage. At least people would take care of her, and shed have enough to eat.