Rice production - Afrikan Heroes

Morocco and Cote d’Ivoire Partners to Boost Rice Production

September 6, 2020

Africa’s food security strategy received a boost this weekend with the announced collaboration between Morocco’s phosphate giant OCP and the government of Cote d’Ivoire. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was entered into with Cote d’Ivoire was signed yesterday with the aim of reviving rice production in the sub-Saharan country. The MoU is the culmination of the close cooperation between Cote d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Rice Promotion and OCP Africa.

representative of OCP Africa, Mohamed Benzekri

According to the signatory parties, the agreement intends to boost the implementation of the rice strategy in Cote d’Ivoire and make the country self-sufficient before 2025. For the Ivorian government, meanwhile, the long-term goal is to be one of the largest African exporters of rice by 2030.

OCP Africa aims to achieve its goal in the West African country by restructuring value chains for rice-growing activities, giving broader access to suitable fertilizers so as to improve productivity and income of farmers in Cote d’Ivoire.

Also included in the agreement is the study of soil, training sessions for farmers, awareness raising initiatives about good agricultural practices, as well as the digitalization of the value chain process. The signing of the agreement saw the presence of Cote d’Ivoire’s Minister of Rice promotion, Gaoussou Toure, the representative of OCP Africa, Mohamed Benzekri, as well as Morocco’s Ambassador in Abidjan, Abdelmalek Kettani.

Morocco’s Ambassador in Abidjan, Abdelmalek Kettani

Cote d’Ivoire is one of several countries in Africa to benefit from OCP’s expertise in agriculture. In May, OCP teamed up with the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) to improve farmers’ access to fertilizers at affordable prices. KNTC managing director, Timothy Mirugi, said the partnership with OCP is a “laudable effort.”

In addition to Cote d’Ivoire and Kenya, the OCP Africa also launched on December 1 a fertility project in Ghana to help the country address its challenges of food security. In all of its projects across the continent, OCP intervenes for most to assist farmers with soil analysis tools and provide national agencies with state-of-the-art laboratory equipment to better deal with soil fertility.

With its leading role of ensuring food safety in Africa, the Moroccan giant has developed partnerships with several African nations, including Nigeria, Zambia, Benin, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, and Rwanda.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Sierra Leone Seeks Help to help build resilient economy, restore self-sufficiency in rice production

March 15, 2020

The Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio has appealed to the African Development Bank to help to stimulate agribusiness development in the country with a focus on rice production. This plea was made by President Maada Bio told a visiting delegation led by its president Akinwumi Adesina.

Adesina begana two-day visit to Sierra Leone within the week during which he will hold meetings to discuss curbing malnutrition, creating skills and jobs for young people, rapidly scaling up economic diversification and restoring the country to self-sufficiency in rice production.

“Our government is working hard to recover the economy, which was on the brink of collapse. We want to focus on economic diversification, with agriculture as the main driver,” President Bio observed, in a meeting with the Bank delegation.

“We are serious about developing this country and will appreciate the Bank’s support to realize our dreams. Infrastructure is an enabler for development, so we appreciate what the Bank is doing in Sierra Leone,” Bio said, identifying a productive workforce as a top national priority as well as jumpstarting economic activities in rural areas, where 73.9% of Sierra Leone’s poor live.

Commenting on the country’s capacity to enhance local production, and the export of rice, Sierra Leone’s staple food, Adesina said, “Sierra Leone should not be spending over $200 million yearly importing rice because its climatic conditions are generally favorable for rice production.”

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry data, total rice demand in 2018 was 1.6 million metric tons, against local production of 700,000 metric tons. In July 2019, the Bank approved the $11 million Agribusiness and Rice Value Chain Support Project to stimulate agribusiness development in the country with a focus on rice.

Sierra Leone also sought the Bank’s support for the implementation of its free quality education programme, which aims to enhance human capital development and facilitate economic transformation.

Adesina encouraged the country to explore the Bank’s Africa Investment Forum to elicit investor interest for the proposed Lungi–Freetown bridge. The project will link the capital city, Freetown, to the country’s sole international airport, which is presently accessible by ferry or helicopter.

The Bank also expressed keenness to support the development of critical infrastructure in the West African country and to open up space for greater private sector participation in the economy. Adesina said the Bank would deploy the African Legal Support Facility to help the country better manage its natural resources.

Adesina commended President Bio for his decision to join the African Leaders for Nutrition as a nutrition champion in his country, and for Africa. “Sierra Leone is an important country to the Bank,” We will support you to build a more robust and resilient economy, to transform the lives of your people. That is our role as a bank, putting people at the heart of development.”

“The Bank’s footprint is everywhere in Sierra Leone,” Chief Minister David Francis told Adesina. “The Bank has remained committed to the post-Ebola reconstruction. You have remained a faithful partner, and the country is grateful.”

Sierra Leone was one of the Bank Group’s founding members, and the Bank has financed projects there since 1967, to a cumulative sum of $758 million.

Kelechi Deca