Backgrounder

Rice: giving life

The United Nations has declared 2004 to be the International Year of Rice. The motto for the International Year of Rice is 'rice is life'. Rice is the staple food for half of the world's population. It is not only the major source of nutrition for billions of people throughout the world but is the source of livelihood for hundreds of millions of households throughout the developing (majority) countries of Asia, Africa and the Americas. As the population of the world continues to increase, the demand for foods such as rice also increases.

Unfortunately, the wetlands required for the production are limited, so new ways to improve the sustainable production of rice are urgently required. This situation is all the more serious when it is considered that of the approximately 840 million people who live with chronic hunger in our world, about half live in areas dependent on rice production for their food. In addition, by 2015 rice will be expected to feed an estimated 4.6 billion people compared to around 3 billion today.

The United Nations considers the issue so important that it has followed last year's focus on access to water with a whole year focus on ways to increase production of rice so as to ensure food security for people in the developing (majority) world into the future. (There is now a trend to use the expression 'majority world' instead of 'developing world' as this is not such a value laden expression)

India: Farmer of Tamil Nadu prepares rice seedlings. Photo: Caritas Australia

Rice facts:

• About 40% of the world's population, mostly in the less developed counties, rely on rice as their major source of energy.
• Around 90% of rice that is produced is locally consumed.
• It takes about 5000 litres of water to produce one kilo of rice.
• Wild rice was gathered by prehistoric people and has been cultivated in East Asia for around 10,000 years and in India for 8,000 years.
• An experimental rice crop was planted in New South Wales in 1892.
• This is the second International Year of Rice. The first was in 1966.
• The use of pesticides and fertilisers can increase rice yields but can also cause contamination of water. New farming techniques need to be environmentally sustainable.
• World production of rice improved by 3% in 2003.
• There is a rice 'bank' in the Philippines which contains 110,000 samples of rice, both wild and cultivated. This means that the genetic diversity of rice will not be lost and that scientists will be able to use these varieties when looking for better, higher yielding varieties.
• Rice is a member of the grass family of plants. There are only two species of rice that are widely cultivated, one African species and one from Asia.
• Rice is generally considered to be a semi-aquatic plant but some varieties can be grown in deep water (up to 5 metres) or on dry land.
• Rice alone can supply all the protein and carbohydrate needs of a manual labourer. It ranks higher in available kilojoules per 100 grams than wheat. It needs to be supplemented with vitamin B and other protein sources for children.
• Rice commands a higher price on world markets than wheat. However, only 5% of the world's rice crop makes it on to these markets. 16% of the world's wheat is sold on world markets.
• Rice is grown in 112 different countries around the world. However, 95% of rice is grown in Asia.
• The highest level of rice consumption (130 to 180 kilograms per person per year) is in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Indonesia.
• The reason that duck is a popular food in China is that ducks were attracted to the watery rice fields.

Rice not only provides nutrition, it is an important part of many cultures. In Quezon province in the Philippines each year on May 15, the people celebrate the feast of San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of the Filipino farmer. As part of the celebrations, precious offerings of rice and other produce are made to the saint. Locals homes are decorated with brightly coloured leaf shaped decorations made from rice flour paste. These are then strung together to form brightly coloured chandeliers. Afterwards they are fried and eaten. This festival coincides with the harvest. Go to www.riceworld.org/lucopen.html for pictures of this brilliantly coloured celebration of the importance of rice to the people of this region. Rice gives life in many ways to the people of our world.

Simply Sharing Week is 16-23 May. The theme is 'food' with a focus on East Timor. Visit www.forceten.org.au to find out more and order your free educational kit.

Indonesia. Photo: Sean Sprague

Teaching and learning activities

Social Sciences/Geography/Science

1. Go to www.fao.org/rice2004/en/kids.htm for a set of questions and answers on rice. Once you have read the information you can click on the multiple choice Quiz to test your understanding. Record your score.

2. Go to www.graindell.com/kids.htm for an abundance of interactive activities about rice including science of rice, experiments, games etc. These activities are suitable for primary to lower secondary students.

3. Go to www.asiarice.org/sections/science.html to see the role of science in the growing of rice today.

Answer the following:
a) How has the growing of rice changed in modern times?
b) What do people do rather than pray to spirits to improve their rice harvests?
c) Research the terms: agronomy, soil science and molecular genetics. How do these relate to the growing of rice?
d) What are the rice scientists of Asia working to achieve? Why is this so important?
e) What is the way to ensure that the billions of people who depend on rice will be able to be fed in the future?

4. Go to www.asiarice.org/sections/learnrice/riceislife.html to read about the richness of life provided by rice. Make a list of the challenges facing those dependent on rice. Consider the physical, the cultural and the environmental challenges. Compare your list with the lists of others in your class. Can you come up with some possible solutions? Discuss these with the rest of the class.

5. Go to www.asiarice.org/sections/gallery/galleryindex.html to view images of rice cultivation and culture.

6. Go to www.riceworld.org/rwopen.html to read about and view pictures of traditional rice cultivation techniques. The menu bar can be found on the left. What are the basic tools needed to harvest and prepare rice for market? Explain the processes of harvesting, transporting, threshing, pounding and winnowing.

7. Go to wpni01.auroraquanta.com/pv/rice?img=2442 for a photo voyage which covers all aspects of rice and its importance to people especially in the developing (majority) world. Choose one area to look at in depth. Explain one image and why you chose it. Did you find out something about rice that you did not already know?

8. Do we use rice in any rituals in Australia? Do you know how rice is used and what it symbolises at a wedding?

9. Go to www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/843 and complete the activity which focuses on the geography of rice and its cultivation. This compares the cultivation of rice in Australia with cultivation in other countries and investigates why such differences exist. Suitable for upper primary and lower secondary school students.

10. Go to www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/844 and complete this activity which focuses on the labour intensive production methods of most rice production. Suitable for lower and middle primary school students.

11. Go to www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/857 for a suggested activity to do with the use of rice. This could be used in the Food Technology course.

12. Go to www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/847 to look at the Integrated Pest Management approach to the cultivation of rice. This is an attempt to use environmentally sustainable techniques to lessen the amount of pesticides used. This is a good case study for senior Geography.

13. Go to www.teachers.ash.org.au/jmresources/rice/year.html for an abundance of information, teaching activities, units of work, recipes, practical and on-line activities suitable for students of all ages and interests.

Indonesia. Photo: Sean Sprague

Religion/Social Justice

1. Today there is a trend towards using the term 'majority world' to describe what was previously referred to as the 'developing world'. To find out more go to www.caritas.org.au/education/label.htm

2. Go to www.caritas.org.nz/school/activities/index.htm for a set of interactive activities including a simple introduction to Catholic Social Teaching concepts as well as a virtual trek around Cambodia.

3. This year's Simply Sharing Week has an East Timor focus. One of the staple crops grown in East Timor is rice. The monsoonal rains which are essential for a successful rice crop, have not been sufficient over the last two wet seasons. Tools are also in short supply after the devastation after the Independence ballot. Participation in Simply Sharing Week will raise awareness and much needed funds for projects which are aimed at the guaranteeing of food security for the people of the world's newest nation. Go to www.forceten.org.au and click on Simply Sharing Week to find out more.

4. Go to www.cafod.org.uk/resources/schoolsteachers/factsheets/food_ks3_ks4 to find out the various reasons why people go hungry. Why do so many have so little when others have too much? Is it a case of 'living more simply, so that others may simply live'? Discuss the reasons for hunger in our world. What possible solutions are there?

5. Find out more about the Timor Gap oil agreement. Write to your Federal Member of Parliament about making sure that East Timor receives a fair share of the proceeds of any exploitation of oil and gas reserves in the Timor Gap. Go to www.forceten.org.au
Click on Simply Sharing Week
Scroll down and click on this year's project
Scroll down and click on oil for more detail.

Parish and Community Groups

1. Find out more about the Timor Gap oil agreement and organise a letter-writing event in support of a just outcome for East Timor.

2. Participate in Simply Sharing Week 16 to 23 May. See www.forceten.org.au for more ideas.

3. Find out more about the International Year of Rice. Go to www.fao.org/rice2004/index_en.htm to find out more. Fact sheets on various aspects of rice and its place in the world are to be found at www.fao.org/rice2004/en/factsheets.htm including nutrition, economics, aquatic biodiversity etc.

4. Organise a rice day when your school or community just eats rice. This can be an awareness raiser and/or a fund raising activity.

5. Sunday 16 May is Jubilee Sunday and World Debt Day. For more information about how you can get involved visit www.jubileeaustralia.org.