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Milan, 16 September 2011. The FIRST Initiative is born. Short for French-Italian Rice Science and Technology Initiative, this programme is the first collaboration of its kind between the Milan-based Fondazione Cariplo and the Montpellier-based Agropolis Fondation.

The FIRST Initiative aims to promote common action between the two foundations involving scientists and researchers from France, Italy and developing countries in a joint effort to contribute to knowledge sharing and scientific capacity building. The two foundations decided to focus their initial collaboration on rice given its centrality in both the economy and nutrition in most of the developing world where the availability of this staple crop is often equated with food security.

More than 3.5 billion people worldwide depend on rice for more than 20% of their daily calories. An excellent source of complex carbohydrates, it is also rich in nutrients and contains vitamins and minerals. A lot of these nutrients, however, are lostduring milling and polishing. More than a billion people depend on rice cultivation for their livelihoods. About 90% of rice is grown in Asia's 200 million rice farms, most of which are smaller than one hectare. Rice-growing is the main economic activity of millions of rural poor in this region. Rice is the fastest growing staple in Africa with this region contributing to about 3.4% of the world's production as in South America.

Although not a major food crop in the region, rice consumption is slowly but steadily increasing in Europe. Not only the cost of rice production remains relatively high in this part of the world, but there are also a number of constraints associated in producing it, e.g., low temperature, water scarcity and biotic stresses. Rice producing countries in Asia and other parts of the world are facing similar limitations.

Given its centrality in both the economy and nutrition in most of the developing world, the availability of this commodity is often equated with food security and closely connected to political security. Estimates made by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) reveal that an additional 8-10 million tons of rice need to be produced annually to keep its prices stable and affordable at around US$ 300 per ton. One of the main challenges is therefore to ensure rice supply by boosting its production with less land, water, labor and other inputs, in more efficient, environment-friendly production systems.

Product of an intensive negotiation process, the Partnership Agreement signed today by Giuseppe Guzzetti, President of Fondazione Cariplo and Anne-Lucie Wack, Director of Agropolis Fondation, aims to support the research activities in Lombardy and Montpellier, two European poles of excellence in agriculture and agri-food research.

Today's Signing Ceremony heralds the start of collaboration between the two Foundations, both with long-standing commitment in the promotion of research in the field of agricultural sciences. With each foundation contributing €1 million, the FIRST initiative is aimed at developing and supporting scientific research in the agri-food sector as well as in facilitating the emergence of excellent, innovative and potentially high-impact research on rice.

The collaboration between the two foundations will be anchored on original scientific approaches privileging integration (from genes to systems, up to the final use of products) and interdisciplinary approach (biological sciences, engineering and social sciences). This joint initiative will fund development-oriented rice research as well as the mobility and exchange of professors, scientists, researchers and students from France, Italy and rice-producing developing countries. The FIRST Initiative is also expected to generate leverage effect by encouraging new collaborations.

Fondazione Cariplo (www.fondazionecariplo.it) is an Italian private and not-for-profitgrant making foundation. Cariplo's mission, role and operational strategy is to act as an entity that anticipates emerging needs - or selects deep-seated yet still unmet needs - tries new solutions to respond more effectively and less costly to them, and ultimately makes its best endeavors to disseminate successful solutions. Among others, Cariplo funds a number of research and technology transfer projects in agriculture and agro-food sector. It supports research projects with the potential to yield major innovative applications, mainly in terms of improving production processes and developing innovative technology.