“…Demands for rice in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) are rapidly increasing because of changes in consumer preferences and urbanization (Balasubramanian, Sie, Hijmans, & Otsuka, 2007; FAO, 2018). However, local rice production lags behind consumption, and this is mainly due to the low yield levels attained on smallholder farms (van Ittersum et al., 2016; van Oort et al., 2015; Senthilkumar, Tesha, Mghase, & Rodenburg, 2018). Low rice yield levels at African smallholder farms are caused by abiotic stresses such as drought, nutrient deficiencies and/or toxicity, cold and heat (Haefele et al., 2013; Kijoji et al., 2012; Nhamo, Rodenburg, Zenna, Makombe, & Luzi‐Kilhupi, 2014; Poussin, Wopereis, Debouzie, & Maeght, 2003; Saito et al., 2019; Saito et al., 2013; Saito, Diack, Dieng, & Ndiaye, 2015; Saito, Dieng, Toure, Somado, & Wopereis, 2015; Tanaka et al., 2017) and biotic stresses such as birds (De Mey, Demont, & Diagne, 2012), insect pests, diseases and weeds (Adesina, Johnson, & Heinrichs, 1994; Diagne et al., 2013; Rodenburg & Johnson, 2009; Rodenburg et al., 2019).…”