International Year of Rice 2004: "Rice is life"

In the face of growing hunger and poverty next year's annual theme will be dedicated to a vital food crop: Rice. This commodity feeds more than half the world's population while providing income for millions of rice producers, processors and traders.

This is the first time ever a theme of an international year is dedicated to a single crop. The request, made by Philippines, along with 44 other countries during the 31st FAO Conference that the UN General Assembly declare 2004 the International Year of Rice (IYR), was the result of growing concern among major agricultural organisations since 1999 related to the "pending crisis" of rice production due to low growth in rice yields.

The official launch was held on 31 October 2003 at UN headquarters in New York where FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf spoke upon UN delegates underlining the importance of rice as a rapidly growing food source with major influence on human nutrition and food security all over the world.

The fundamental objective of the IYR as it reads in the Concept Paper is to "promote and provide guidance for an efficient and sustainable increase in rice-based production. The strategy is to engage the global community in establishing mutually beneficial activities including information generation and exchange, transfer of advanced technology through education and extension, application of good management practices and promotion of a policy and regulatory environment conducive to rice development."

Under the slogan "Rice is Life" FAO will be the leading agency in charge of guiding the initiatives to celebrate the IYR around the world. FAO will work side by side with its main partners: other UN agencies and international developmental and research organizations, especially the CGIAR centres, member Governments of both rice producing and consuming countries, NGOs, farmer associations and the rural community as well as the private sector.

An intergovernmental working group has already been set and Committees for the IYR have also been established in a number of countries as well as at CGIAR Centres. A series of activities to celebrate the IYR around the world during 2004 can be found in the website of the IYR.

To read the latest press releases on the IYR please click here.

For more information on the origins and history of rice please click here.