“WORKING WOMEN in rice mill” is the title of the photo of two Bangladeshi women processing rice in a locally-made oven. The photo won 3rd prize in the amateur category of the FAO’s International Year of Rice Global Photography Contest: “Rice Is Life.” (Photo: Md. Rashid Un Nabi of Bangladesh)
The International Year of Rice has come and gone. The United Nations declared the rice year to draw global attention to the grain that feeds half the world and its central role in the lives of millions, if not billions, of poor people.
Did it succeed? There are clear signs that the campaign achieved its main aim of boosting public and donor awareness. Rice hit the news pages, airwaves and Websites more than any time in recent memory.
The scientific community, governments and national agricultural research and training programs have forged new and important links.
The International Year of Rice Secretariat declared that, “The success of International Year of Rice 2004 has given new impetus to efforts to develop sustainable rice-based systems that will reduce hunger and poverty, and contribute to environmental conservation and a better life for present and future generations.”
View or download the pdf file to read a sample of events from around the world. And remember — rice is, indeed, life.
