Participants of the fifth Seminar on China-Africa Rice Value Chain Cooperation visit an unmanned rice farm in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, on 20 June (COURTESY) 

In Bananko, a village in Guinea, Lanciné Camara used to worry about the conservation of crops. The villagers store their harvest in bags or granaries covered with straw. Crops stored in these ways easily became rotten or were attacked by termites, rodents and weevils. In such storage conditions, even seeds were not secure. 

The situation changed with the arrival of the World Food Programme (WFP). Apart from equipment and tools that greatly increased crop production, mini silos provided by the WFP protected their harvest against these risks, enabling them to store their paddy and sell at a time of their own choice. 

“We are no longer obliged to sell our crops at a low price due to the risk of losing them as in the past,” said Camara. 

This is a story shared at a meeting held in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, on 17 June, where the outcomes of the West Africa Rice Value Chain (RVC) Project launched by the WFP China Centre of Excellence in collaboration with partners such as the Gates Foundation were reviewed. 

Launched in 2022 in Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea, the project aims at improving and strengthening the capacity of smallholder farmers along the rice value chain, especially post-harvest loss management and market access for smallholder farmers. With the technology, expertise and equipment sourced mainly from China, the project has transformed the lives of local farmers. 

An effective approach 

The project is committed to addressing food insecurity in Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea through the provision of equipment and materials, study visits and technical training, as well as technology transfer. Though rice is an important staple food in both countries, rice supply is highly dependent on imports due to weak infrastructure, limited inputs of seeds and fertilisers, and serious post-harvest losses. Climate vulnerabilities further exacerbate the challenges. 

So far, the project has provided 1,675 kg seeds and 13,350 kg fertiliser, over 10 small agro-machines, including tractors and threshers, and motorcycles for transport. Onsite training and advice on good agricultural practices are also provided to build farmer capability. These inputs have generated encouraging results. In Côte d’Ivoire, for instance, the average yield of rice has increased from 0.8 tonnes per hectare before the project to 2.2 tonnes in communities covered by the project. Locals who used to live on only one meal a day can now have three meals. 

In terms of storage, the project has established warehouses and workshops for grain storage, and distributed hermetic bags and tarpaulins. At the centre of the storage solution are mini steel silos. The project has distributed 600 such silos for smallholder farmers. To ensure sustainable supply of this affordable, effective tool, a mini silo manufacturing line has been set up in Côte d’Ivoire, and the workshop has already started trial operation. Besides, rice processing lines have also been established and are in operation in the two countries. 

The project emphasises integration with existing mechanisms to maximise benefits to smallholder farmers and the community. In Guinea, for example, the RVC Project is coordinated with the WFP’s Zero Hunger Villages (ZHV) project and school feeding project. Technical support and equipment introduced by the RVC Project help to achieve the targets of the ZHV project, and the increased rice yield allows surplus rice to be purchased by the WFP and then used for school feeding. 

Chinese companies have played a major role in this project by providing technical support and equipment. China Liaoning International Cooperation Group was among these partners. Running a demonstration project in the Guiguidou Reclamation Area in Divo Province, Côte d’Ivoire, one of China’s first economic and technical cooperation projects with Côte d’Ivoire that dates back to the 1980s, the company has been helping to develop local agriculture through infrastructure construction, developing new rice varieties and providing technical training to locals. 

The company has helped to distribute mini silos to communities in Guiguidou and has provided a venue for the mini silo manufacturing line. Qu Yunsheng, deputy general manager of the company, said that these steel containers bear multiple benefits. They can protect the paddy from moisture, prevent the attack of insects and rats, and are affordable. Also, their simple structure and low technical requirements make it feasible to produce them locally. With this simple but effective storage method, the smallholder farmers can keep their crops for longer periods, instead of having to sell them immediately after harvest, when prices are usually low. 

Zhao Bing speaks at the fifth Seminar on China-Africa Rice Value Chain Cooperation in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, on 18 June (COURTESY) 

Zhao Bing, representative of WFP China, told ChinAfrica that the practical expertise, experience and solutions China has gained in its efforts to secure food for its 1.4 billion people have provided inspiration to other countries to fight against hunger and poverty. 

“In terms of rice culture, China’s methods and practices - shaped by its long history of rice cultivation and consumption, as well as recent technological advances and innovations - can help smallholder farmers in Africa to gain greater benefits from the rice value chain,” he said. 

Call for continuous efforts 

As a key component of the project focusing on policy intervention, a seminar on rice value chain was held following the project review meeting, where representatives from West Africa, Chinese government agencies and industrial leaders related to the rice sector gathered to exchange ideas regarding boosting the development of rice value chain in Africa. 

It was recognised at the seminar that despite the fact that rice is an essential source of food and income, challenges remained severe across the rice value chain in Africa. Inadequacies in infrastructure, mechanisation, seed and fertiliser, post-harvest loss control and processing are some of the most mentioned issues. 

In the opinion of Qu, a major challenge to raising rice production in Africa is that a vast majority of rice growing in the region is reliant on rain due to a lack of irrigation infrastructure. 

“Côte d’Ivoire’s 900,000 hectares of rice fields produce only 1.6 million tonnes of rice, while in Liaoning Province, 500,000 hectares can yield 4 million tonnes,” he said, pointing to the great potential for growth. 

Participants of the fifth Seminar on China-Africa Rice Value Chain Cooperation visit a rice processing line in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, on 18 June (COURTESY) 

He emphasised the need for more investment in the agricultural sector to change this situation. Admitting the lack of agriculture’s appeal to investors, he suggested major partners like the Gates Foundation can add weight to their investment in agriculture as a leading investor, so that more social capital would follow. 

Among other approaches to advancing the rice value chain in Africa proposed at the seminar, China’s technologies regarding ratoon rice drew great interest among the participants. The concept refers to growing a second season of rice from the stubble after the first harvest. In areas where the natural conditions allow more than one but less than two seasons of rice, the technique allows one more harvest in six months after the first harvest without the need for planting the seedlings again. 

Tahe Sie Pierre, programme officer and RVC Project’s coordinator at the Regional Centre of Excellence Against Hunger and Malnutrition in Côte d’Ivoire, emphasised the need for coordinated efforts to continue to cooperate. “It is not an option; it is an obligation, so that we can achieve zero hunger and other Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.