COTE D’IVOIRE – The government of Cote d’Ivoire has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with OCP Group, to revive rice production in the country.
Present at the signing of the agreement was 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.
According to reports by Morocco World, the agreement intends to boost the implementation of the rice strategy in Cote d’Ivoire, aiming for the country to be self-sufficient before 2025 and become one of the largest African exporters of rice by 2030.
OCP Africa aims to achieve this 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.
Cote d’Ivoire’s domestic rise production for 2019/20 is projected at 1.25 million metric tons by the United States Department of Agriculture while milled rice production is forecasted at 1.4 million metric tons.
The total production estimate is below the official target of 2 million metric tons set for 2020 which has been moved back to 2025.
According to the report rice imports during the period under review is set at 1.3 million metric tonnes.
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.
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.
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