Comparison of Rice Productivity Performances Between Different African Countries Using the Same Chinese Technology

This paper explores the rice production changes spurred by the dissemination of Chinese rice technology across Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, and Tanzania (one group of the treated countries) through hybrid rice trials conducted from 1990 to 2010. The Difference-in-Differences model was applied for the above group. Another group, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Rwanda, and Togo, was designated the control group, which did not receive treatment. Through hybrid rice trials, Sino–Africa cooperation has changed rice production levels. The Chinese rice dissemination technology performed well in terms of increasing rice yield (with an average of approximately 8.5 tons per hectare in the treated countries against 3.5 tons per hectare in the control countries) and ensuring rice-related self-sufficiency in Africa. The results of an empirical study show that, among the countries treated, Egypt remains the only African country to have established hybrid rice-breeding programs and released and produced domestically hybrid varieties. A redesign of the pattern of rice technology dissemination in Sino–Africa cooperation could, in the long term, improve rice production and productivity in the beneficiary countries.