Featured Item: July 12, 2016

SRI-Rice's Climate CoLab Entry Passes to Final -
Vote for the Proposal on Unleashing the climate-smart potential of Africa’s forgotten rice

Climate CoLab, an idea innovation contest run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is intended to harness the collective intelligence of thousands of people from all around the world to address global climate change. SRI-Rice’s proposal, “Unleashing the climate-smart potential of Africa’s forgotten rice,” has passed to the final round in two of this year’s categories. (See our Adaptation category proposal and Land Use category proposal.) There are two awards: 1) Popular Choice Awards are chosen by public voting and 2) Judges' Choice winners are selected by the Judges.

Get involved! YOU can Vote!

Public voting on the contest is happening from now until July 31 at 11:59 EST—please support SRI and West African farmers by voting for this proposal! If you would like to learn more about SRI, visit sririce.org or email the SRI-Rice Center at sririce@cornell.edu.

Climate CoLab Voting Instructions are as follows:

1. Open both of these links (You can vote once for us in each of the categories): Adaptation category proposal and Land Use category proposal
2. Click on “VOTE for Proposal” on the right hand side of the page.
3. You will be directed to a link to register to vote when you first click on the vote button: Use Facebook account or create a new account.
4. After you are registered, make sure to click again on "VOTE for Proposal" so that your vote is counted. (Don't forget to vote for us in both the Land Use category AND the Adaptation category as we have entered the proposal in two categories).

Thanks for supporting our efforts to work on climate change and biodiversity with these African rice varieties that have been part of the African landscape and culture for centuries... Please contact us with any questions about the proposal, voting, or the System of Rice Intensification (SRI).

Overview of the proposal

The SRI-Rice proposal suggests a method of protecting agricultural biodiversity while helping West African farmers to both adapt to and mitigate climate change by encouraging the use of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) methods for growing the native African rice, Oryza glaberrima. Combining eco-farming methods with the varieties grown for several thousand years in West Africa, farmers can reduce CH4 emissions and water use and improve yields, while preserving biodiversity and protecting a species that has long been part of their culture.