Can rice crisis be turned into opportunity for Africa?

The news spotlight on the world rice crisis has mostly focused on Asia where the cost of this staple food recently topped $700 per tonne, but it is Africa that is showing the greatest strain with riots and demonstrations worrying several governments. Many Africans well remember that so-called ‘rice riots’ were adjudged the trigger for civil war in Liberia. Recent riots in Abidjan, the capital of