Opportunities for support to System of Rice Intensification in Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi

This briefing outlines the potential for the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) to increase rice production in Tanzania, Zambia, and Malawi, while identifying systemic constraints and the current limited scale of SRI adoption.

• Tanzania, Zambia, and Malawi face similar constraints in rice production, including low seed quality, lack of input access, poorly functioning irrigation, poor soil fertility management, weed infestation, low yields, and low technical capacity.
• While SRI often results in more than double the yield compared to traditional cultivation, these increases may be due to improved management practices—such as better fertilization, weed control, and seed quality—rather than SRI principles alone.
• SRI is implemented on a very limited scale across the three countries, with no specific policies to promote it, although it is more developed in Tanzania and Malawi than in Zambia and is promoted in Tanzania via the "Big Result Now" program.
• Socio-economic barriers to intensifying rice production include limited access to credit and fertilizer, fluctuating prices, and poor market access.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2014). Opportunities for support to System of Rice Intensification in Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi. https://cdkn.org/resource/opportunities-for-support-to-system-of-rice-intensification-in-tanzania-zambia-and-malawi

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. Opportunities for support to System of Rice Intensification in Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi. 2014. https://cdkn.org/resource/opportunities-for-support-to-system-of-rice-intensification-in-tanzania-zambia-and-malawi.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=Opportunities for support to System of Rice Intensification in Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi |date=26 August 2014 |url=https://cdkn.org/resource/opportunities-for-support-to-system-of-rice-intensification-in-tanzania-zambia-and-malawi |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetwork2014opportunities, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{Opportunities for support to System of Rice Intensification in Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2014}, month = aug, url = {https://cdkn.org/resource/opportunities-for-support-to-system-of-rice-intensification-in-tanzania-zambia-and-malawi}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }