Boosting the market for broken rice
In the processing of rice, broken rice emerges as a by-product which is mostly not utilized. As such, Tamanaa, a medium scale processor of rice and one of the business champions of 2SCALE in Ghana has been seeking alternative use for the broken rice. One of such alternatives is the desire by the business champion to also venture into rice blends with soybean.
To boost the market for the broken rice, B-Diet a small scale processor of sorghum based products in the Faranaya partnership has shown interest in the use of broken rice for sorghum blend formulation for porridge. The company produces and sells sorghum blends (mix of rice, soybean) as breakfast cereals for low income earners. These blends have therefore provided opportunities for linkages between B-diet and Tamanaa for the sale and utilization of broken rice in sorghum blends. The flour for porridge is a blend of sorghum, rice and soybean. So far, 5 tons of broken rice has been off-taken by B-diet from Tamanaa for the preparation of sorghum blends. Increasing demand for broken rice from B-diet will not only provide an alternative market for Tamanaa but can potentially lead to increased production of rice and consequently increased income of smallholder farmers. Additionally, access to nutritious foods by low income earners can be improved given that the cost of broken rice is much cheaper which would also contribute to lowering the cost of sorghum blends.
An alternative market for sorghum farmers
Also as part of facilitating linkages between agribusiness and value chain actors, 2SCALE organized a Business-to-Business (B2B) meeting in Bolgatanga, Ghana in June. Just like Tamanaa, Kedan and Faranaya are both 2SCALE business champions based in Ghana. During the B2B meeting, KEDAN facilitated a linkage between Faranaya and an aggregator for the supply of sorghum.
So far, Faranaya has mobilized 10 women aggregators in its value chain who supplied 100 tons of sorghum to this aggregator. This is in addition to the regular supplies Faranaya makes to Guinness Ghana limited. This linkage facilitated by KEDAN has opportunities to also create an alternative market for sorghum thereby increasing production.
2SCALE in its inclusive partnerships will continue to p increase linkages among value chain actors to ultimately improve the income of smallholder women and youth farmers.