African nations struggle to emancipate themselves from imported Indian rice

Women chant and dance as they cut down rice stalks with a sickle or knife outside the village of Dak in central Senegal. The harvest is in progress in west Africa, but there won’t be enough for everyone.

Many African nations rely on imports, and the market has been shaken since India placed limits in September.

India, the top exporter of rice in the world, had banned the sale of broken rice and imposed a 20% export tariff on select non-basmati kinds to regulate domestic prices that had been adversely affected by the catastrophic drought. Self-sufficiency has become a catchphrase in some African nations that depend on imported rice.

This news is written by Ms. Pujari Dharani, Research Assistant, All India Legal Forum.