In January this year, we completed an exciting project for Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH – GIZ– Germany's leading provider of international cooperation services, which took us to West Africa to explore the environmental footprint of rice and cashew value chains.

Rice results

The results clearly show the benefit of stimulating local production. Rice produced by GIZ/CARI farmers in Nigeria had a lower environmental impact than rice imported from Asia. The avoided transport and especially the farming practices employed in Africa led to a lower footprint. Rice production is a big source of methane, a harmful greenhouse gas that is emitted from anaerobic decomposition of organic material during the flooding of rice fields. In Africa, rice production involves less intensive flooding (e.g. through the practice of alternate wetting and drying as promoted by the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP)) and more rain-fed production, leading to a lower environmental impact. Less intensive mechanisation (less use of tractors, harvesters and pumps) also contributes to the lower footprint of African rice.

Cashew results

Processing raw cashew nuts in Africa instead of in Asia, reduces environmental impact, as long transport distances to and from Asia are avoided. Growing cashew nuts using good agricultural practices promoted by GIZ/ComCashew, such as pruning and fire prevention, led to a lower footprint than conventional cashew due to higher yields.

Presentation and in-depth training in Ghana

Two of our consultants, Caroline te Pas and Jasper Scholten, travelled to Ghana to present the results and give in-depth training on life cycle assessments. Discussions with the participants led to interesting insights on how to further increase sustainability in the two value chains.

The results demonstrate the environmental benefit of stimulating production and processing in West Africa and underpin GIZ’s efforts to strengthen these value chains.