Is Pesticide Use Sustainable in Lowland Rice Intensification in West Africa

Rice is a major staple food for about 3 billion people (Nguyen and Ferrero 2006). In West Africa, it is indeed no longer a luxury food and has become a major source of calories for the urban poor. The poorest urban households obtain 33% of their cereal-based calories from rice (NISER, 2005). Urbanization, changes in employment patterns, income levels, and rapid population growth have contributed to widening the gap between supply and demand (Figure 1). The gap between production and consumption is made up by imports, which are estimated at 2 million metric tones per annum.