July 29, 2021

The great rice granaries of Côte d'Ivoire

Staple Crops

Ivory Coast

When arriving in Daloa, visitors are always impressed by the low-lying rice fields at the entrance to the city.

What does this locality really represent in the cultivation of rice in Côte d'Ivoire?

With nearly 20,000 hectares of cultivable land, of which 4,315 hectares are currently developed and used by local farmers, Daloa is renowned for its rice production. The CAPI mini-rice mill, one of the four business champions of our syndicated rice partnership in Côte d'Ivoire, aims to bring to the Ivorian market a quality local rice whose nutritional content can compete with imported rice. By ensuring the processing and marketing of local rice that guarantees consumers flavor, nutritional quality and accessibility, the company aspires to develop its production and distribution of white and parboiled rice but also to introduce rice-based infant flour through the support of 2SCALE.

Dealing with the bottleneck

The CAPI mini rice mill does not run every season of the year. Although the mill has a production capacity of 440 tons of paddy per year, CAPI still faces a supply challenge, but it is not alone in this situation. All four SMEs involved in the syndicated partnership in Côte d'Ivoire, namely LOCAGRI, ESPOIR RIZ DU CAVALLY, KATIO-AKPA in addition to CAPI, are facing this constraint. Indeed, low yields, difficulties in obtaining inputs and agricultural credit, a high rate of post-harvest losses and the lack of loyalty in producer-processor relations are major constraints in the sector. 2SCALE has thus helped to identify various needs related to the above-mentioned challenges, and has put in place various actions to remedy them.

Solutions and impacts on CAPI

In order to improve the supply of paddy to CAPI, 2SCALE facilitated the establishment of relationships with a network of rice farmers who benefit from production support through access to inputs, the adoption of eco-efficient production practices, the guarantee of the purchase of their production as well as access to financing via the Coopec (savings and credit cooperative). These different actions have allowed the company to benefit from a good image among farmers and to establish new partnerships with farmer groups, including a women's group in the Daloa region. In addition to the improvement of the supply system, other actions supported by 2SCALE such as the distribution strategy through the realization of a market study, capacity building on the management of a distribution network as well as the implementation of a delivery service have allowed CAPI to increase its sales volumes by 93% from 54 tons in the first quarter of 2020 to 104 tons in the first quarter of 2021.

KATIO AKPA or the rice of Katiola

About 205 km from Daloa, located in the center of Tagbana county north of Bouaké, Katiola is also a major rice granary in Côte d'Ivoire. Here, the lack of developed areas reduces f farmers’ ambitions. On the eve of the winter season, the Business Support Services (BSS) partner in charge of implementing 2SCALE's activities convened all the actors in the value chain to prepare the crop year plan and get farmers to organize grouped purchases of inputs. About 630 rice farmers, from 16 producer organizations, grow rice on plots of land with an average yield of three tons per hectare. This is a very small amount to satisfy the growing demand of the local miller KATIO AKPA.

Boost production with women and youth

To revitalize the sector and boost local production, the Katiola ABC (Agribusiness cluster) aims to increase its number of farmers from 630 to 1,250, of which 50% are women and 40% are youth, in order to fill the gap in the supply of the KATIO AKPA mini rice mill. Although there is ambition, another major challenge is access to financing. Farmers expect to be paid in cash upon delivery of their produce. To overcome this problem, 2SCALE facilitates with the champion KATIO AKPA the establishment of strong business linkages with microfinance institutions to be able to meet the needs of farmers.

Although rice is one of the commodities most consumed in Côte d'Ivoire, many challenges remain for local farmers and processors, including low productivity, the non-valorization of rice by-products, the problem of loyalty between farmers and millers, and especially the strong competition from imports.

As part of the syndicated rice partnership, 2SCALE supports the various actors to go towards the professionalization of the sector through the creation of more inclusive and sustainable agricultural business clusters.

Share this update: