February 02, 2023

Strengthening the entrepreneurial capacity of rice farmers, for the sustainability of a syndicated partnership rich in business

Staple Crops

Ivory Coast

The empowerment of women in rural areas is one of the priorities in 2SCALE’s activities. Although women play an essential role in the various agricultural value chains, they do not benefit from the same conditions (opportunities and income) as men for the same activities. Very often excluded from the decision-making processes of the agro-industry world, they face a "triple load" of responsibilities towards their companies, their families and their communities, This leaves them much less time than most men to invest in their business.

Therefore, within the framework of the syndicated rice partnership and to address these inequalities, AYA , a tool in the value chain of the 2SCALE program, encourages women entrepreneurs in agribusiness to take training and facilitate networking across Africa since 2018.

Indeed launched in June 2020, the syndicated rice partnership is built around several Business Champions, who are machiniers, implanted in different areas of Côte d'Ivoire. This partnership aims to increase domestic rice production to better meet domestic needs.

Also, the rice partnership aims to better include small producers (Young and Women) as well as other SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) and VSME (Very Small and Medium Enterprises). In Côte d'Ivoire, local rice is little consumed relative to imported rice which is considered cleaner and more available. The 2SCALE program, wishing to improve the living conditions of small rice producers, decided to promote the consumption of local rice through the Business Champions of the Syndicated Rice Partnership.

Also, the 2SCALE objective aims to facilitate the empowerment of women actors in agribusiness value chains using the AYA approach.

Empowerment through learning…

In 2021, a needs assessment of rice steamers and vending machines was carried out after a survey of about fifteen women in the pea of Daloa and Guiglo. This evaluation found that most women entrepreneurs were young (25-40 years old), relatively new to the business world and continually faced significant challenges, such as lack of access to financial resources, or the lack of knowledge and information on available financial products, the lack of a favourable policy environment for women in small businesses, etc...

With a view to solving them, trainings and workshops have been set up by the 2SCALE team in collaboration with the champions, whose specific objectives were to strengthen the capacities of actors in the value chain in life skills and management, to create a network of women for sharing experiences and advice on activities, and for a better inclusion of women in the value chain.

For this purpose in the same PEA, more than 50 women were trained on several points: simplified accounting so that they can better manage their income and differentiate between the fund for their activity and that of the household, the negotiation skills that will allow them to be more dynamic, the communication between them and the sharing of experience by creating a social platform, finally the loyalty of their customers and how to better sell.

…producer leaders, sustainable partnership…

In the locality of Daloa, precisely in Fofanadougou, Tatiana Coulibaly president of the group of women rice producers «SOLIDARITÉ» composed of 56 women, confirms the benefits of AYA training and networking that benefited her group.

In the early days of operations, we were producing rice and marketing it only in paddy— I have to say that it was less profitable for us, which at times upset us in our group— But with the 2SCALE partnership and thanks to the AYA training received, we had changed our strategy and followed the trainers' advice, which consisted in producing rice and selling it after shelling.

She goes on to say:

After taking his advice, only 6 women, including me, tested the after-shelling sale… We sold 2 bags of 100 kilograms each for rice variety GT11… Having been able to sell the goods on the same day and this in time, we took the same system the following days, doubling the goods, but there all the women of the community had joined us and decided to adopt this technique. Thanks to this, today I sell more than a ton of husked rice per week. The business became very profitable, and to confirm it, after the dues we bought a thresher for the group, and as an individual I will soon buy a land, to develop my activities.

In addition to these benefits, these women have been diversifying their crops for some time, producing other crops and increasingly marketing.

The AYA integration tool is indeed a model of inclusion of women in the value chain. Thanks to him, every PEA woman in this partnership could now develop their own market and turn them into leading producers, future sources of motivation. They will be more autonomous and therefore more competitive in the market in which they decide to operate.

In view of this, the formations of the AYA trajectory have been successful in the areas of Guiglo and Daloa. One of the lessons learned is the importance of networking among women entrepreneurs, not only to share knowledge and skills, but also to foster solidarity and support among them.

The advantage of these AYA trainings is that they helped these producers to fill their skills and business knowledge gap.

The 2SCALE expectations concern the majority of women trained to be autonomous, and to adopt the techniques provided in the modules during the training, meeting their needs on a sustainable scale.

Finally, the AYA initiative, a producer inclusion tool, facilitates the empowerment of women in rural areas and is one of the priorities in 2SCALE’s activities. As part of the syndicated rice partnership, this tool has enabled their training and therefore meets their needs, while being part of sustainability.

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