A Tokyo-based nongovernmental organization will seek to counter famine in Mali by planting a new strain of rice in the northwestern Africa country, members of the organization said.

The Motherland Academy, launched by a collection of mothers and their children, has for the past 20 years sent rice to famine-stricken areas of Africa.

Motherland members hope to plant in Mali a high-yield variety of rice known as NERICA, or New Rice for Africa.

NERICA is said to yield three times as much rice as current strains harvested in Africa and is highly resistant to disease.

Tokyo will promote the NERICA strain to African countries during the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which opened Monday in Johannesburg.

Motherland representative Akiko Murakami said that countering famine in Africa is vital to solving the continent's other problems, including its civil wars.

In addition, rice plantations help to prevent desertification, she said.

A delegation from Motherland, including three elementary school students, went to Mali in April to plant rice seedlings, according to Murakami, adding that elementary school children will also plant NERICA seedlings in the spring.

The group was established in 1982 by a few mothers whose children were bullied at school. Its avowed goal was to promote the importance of helping others.

Accordingly, members soon began sending rice and clothing to famine-stricken countries in Africa.

With the cooperation of farmers in Gunma and Nagano prefectures, rice grown in previously fallow fields was sent to Africa to support famine relief efforts.

Following a well-digging program in 1991, the group helped to promote local agriculture in Mali, which was affected by the expansion of the Sahara Desert, she added.

The group began planting rice fields in earnest two years ago in arid areas of the country, Murakami said.