The benchmarking and monitoring of rice production performance indicators are essential for improving rice production self-sufficiency, increasing profitability, reducing labor requirements, optimizing fertilizer inputs, engaging youths in rice production, and increasing the overall sustainability of smallholder rice production systems in countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In this paper, we quantified five sustainability performance indicators (grain yield, net profit, labor productivity, and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) use efficiencies) to benchmark rice production systems in SSA. Data were collected between 2013–2014 from 2907 farmers from two rice production systems (irrigated and rainfed lowlands) across five agroecological zones (arid, semiarid, humid, subhumid and highlands) in 12 countries (Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Togo). The exploitable gap for each indicator (the difference between the mean of 10 % highest-yielding farms and the mean-yielding farms) was calculated across the countries, the two production systems and agroecological zones. The mean yield varied widely between 2.5 to 5.6 t ha⁻¹ and 0.6 to 2.3 t ha⁻¹ in irrigated and rainfed lowlands, respectively, with an average yield of 4.1 and 1.4 t ha⁻¹, respectively. Across the country-production system combinations, there were yield gaps of 29–69 %, profit gaps of 10–89 %, and labor productivity gaps reaching 71 %. Yield, profit, and labor productivity were positively correlated. They were also positively correlated with N and P fertilizer application rate, but not with N and P use efficiencies. Only between 34–44 % of farmers had desirable ranges in N- or P-use efficiencies in the two production systems. All sites for rainfed lowlands were characterized by low-yield and large gaps in yield, profit, and labor productivity, whereas irrigated lowlands in some countries (Madagascar, Mali, and Togo) have similar characteristics as rainfed ones. We conclude that there is an urgent need to disseminate precision nutrient management practices for optimizing nutrient use efficiency and enhancing rice performance indicators especially in rainfed lowlands as well as low-yielding irrigated lowlands. Furthermore, we propose recommendations for specific categories (i.e. farmer, rice production system, agroecological zone and country) to close performance indicator gaps and to allow the production at scale to achieve rice self-sufficiency in SSA.

大米生产绩效指标的基准和监测对于提高大米生产自给自足、提高盈利能力、减少劳动力需求、优化化肥投入、让青年参与大米生产以及提高次区域国家小农大米生产系统的整体可持续性至关重要。 -撒哈拉非洲（SSA）。在本文中，我们量化了五个可持续性绩效指标（粮食产量、净利润、劳动生产率以及氮 (N) 和磷 (P) 使用效率），以作为 SSA 水稻生产系统的基准。2013 年至 2014 年期间，从 12 个国家（贝宁、喀麦隆、科特迪瓦、加纳）的五个农业生态区（干旱、半干旱、湿润、半湿润和高地）的两个水稻生产系统（灌溉和雨育低地）的 2907 名农民收集了数据, 马达加斯加、马里、尼日尔、尼日利亚、塞内加尔、塞拉利昂、坦桑尼亚和多哥）。计算了各个国家、两个生产系统和农业生态区的每个指标的可利用差距（10% 最高产量农场与平均产量农场的平均值之间的差异）。平均产量在 2.5 至 5.6 吨公顷之间变化很大^-1和 0.6 到 2.3 t ha ^-1在灌溉和雨育低地，平均产量分别为 4.1 和 1.4 t ha ^-1， 分别。在国家-生产系统组合中，产量差距为 29-69%，利润差距为 10-89%，劳动生产率差距达到 71%。产量、利润和劳动生产率呈正相关。它们也与氮磷肥施用量呈正相关，但与氮磷利用效率不相关。在两个生产系统中，只有 34-44% 的农民在氮或磷的使用效率方面达到了理想的范围。雨养低地的所有地点的特点是产量低，产量、利润和劳动生产率差距很大，而一些国家（马达加斯加、马里和多哥）的灌溉低地与雨养低地具有相似的特征。我们的结论是，迫切需要传播精确的养分管理实践，以优化养分利用效率和提高水稻性能指标，尤其是在雨养低地和低产灌溉低地。此外，我们针对特定类别（即农民、水稻生产系统、农业生态区和国家）提出建议，以缩小绩效指标差距并允许规模生产以实现 SSA 的水稻自给自足。