icoast urging change cocoa pays but rice feeds the hungry
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

ICoast urging change, cocoa pays but rice feeds the hungry

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicleICoast urging change, cocoa pays but rice feeds the hungry

A local farmer works in a rice field
Agboville - AFP

Verdant rice paddies stretch as far as the eye can see around Agboville, the heart of a drive for food self-sufficiency in Ivory Coast, better known as the world's top producer of cocoa -- for export.

Less than an hour north of the economic capital Abidjan, thousands of croaking frogs accompany the Agboville rice farmers who produce some 600 tonnes a year.

They have an advantage over the bulk of the country's rice growers -- a decades-old dam that guarantees water for irrigation.

"Eighty-five percent of Ivorian rice still relies on rain," says Yacouba Dembele, head of the National Office of Rice Growing Development, urging greater investment in water management.

He is battling to get Ivorian farmers to grow food crops rather than the more profitable cocoa and cashews for export they favour, even though the fertile west African country is struggling to feed a growing population.

Last year, Ivory Coast had to import 900,000 tonnes of rice to satisfy domestic demand, even after a record harvest of 1.34 million tonnes.

"Growers have let themselves be lured by profit, abandoning sustenance crops," laments Jean-Baptiste Koffi, president of the Federal Union of Ivory Coast Consumers.

"They've become involved in speculative (crops) like cocoa and more recently rubber, even as people are dying of hunger and getting only one meal a day," he says.

Cocoa alone accounts for more than half of Ivory Coast's export income, while it is also the world's second-largest producer of cashew nuts.

The high cost of imported food has stoked anger, especially at a time when the economy of the former French colony is booming, with annual GDP growth reaching nine percent since a decade of unrest ended in 2011.

The government wants to attain "rice self-sufficiency" by next year after learning from riots in 2008 sparked by sky-high prices for rice, milk, meat and fish -- all imported with duties exceeding 50 percent.

The drive is a constant refrain for President Alassane Ouattara as he campaigns for re-election in October, along with a call for the country to join the ranks of emerging nations by 2020.

- 'Naturally better' -

But domestic rice is proving a hard sell, notably because it is more expensive than imports of the grain and also because it is not as white as its foreign rivals.

Popular former footballer Didier Otokore, now a civil society activist, says Ivorian rice is "naturally better" and does not contain the preservatives that imports do.

Mory Diabate, owner of an Ivorian rice company, said subsidies given to growers in Thailand, Vietnam, the United States and India -- the sector's global giants -- mean they have a competitive advantage.

But rather than denouncing that aid, Diabate says the Ivorian government should follow suit, saying the move "could create a million jobs".

It would clearly help the nation's trade balance. Last year's rice imports cost 380 million euros ($420 million), equivalent to nearly a quarter of the country's 2015 national budget, notes an agriculture ministry official.

The focus on rice self-sufficiency comes as the country's population is surging, with an average of 5.4 children per family according to the latest census.

Today's population of 23 million compares with a mere four million at independence in 1960.

And the nation has seen significant urban drift in the past 30 years, placing increased pressure on farmers to produce.

themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

icoast urging change cocoa pays but rice feeds the hungry icoast urging change cocoa pays but rice feeds the hungry

 



Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

GMT 07:55 2018 Wednesday ,10 January

UN urges Israel to scrap African migrant relocation plan

GMT 11:05 2018 Friday ,05 January

Child mummy in Italy had hepatitis, not smallpox

GMT 13:18 2017 Sunday ,15 October

Some IS foreign fighters have left Raqa under deal

GMT 07:20 2018 Wednesday ,03 January

US conservatives cheer on Iran's 'brave' protesters

GMT 12:18 2017 Tuesday ,25 July

BOD launches & appoints PR

GMT 17:32 2017 Thursday ,02 November

In Portugal, corks still top screwcaps

GMT 09:25 2017 Saturday ,21 October

US existing home sales edge up in September

GMT 21:15 2017 Thursday ,28 September

Saudi government praises localization of products related
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
 
 Themuslimchronicle Facebook,themuslimchronicle facebook  Themuslimchronicle Twitter,themuslimchronicle twitter Themuslimchronicle Rss,themuslimchronicle rss  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle