Press Release

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a Record of Discussion for a technical cooperation project "Local Rice Promotion Project phase II (PRORIL 2)" with the Government of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire via its Ministry of Rice Promotion on December 23, 2019.

Cote d'Ivoire is heavily dependent on rice import to cover about 50% of its total consumption. The gap between demand and the local supply is widening because of the rapid increase of the consumption and the stagnation of the local production due to several reasons. These reasons include a) the low productivity with limited access to extension services and inputs such as seeds and fertilizers, b) inefficient utilization of suitable land for rice farming, c) low competitiveness against imported rice mainly because of inappropriate post-harvest handling and facilities and low quality of seed.

Since 2014, JICA has been implementing the Local Rice Promotion Project (PRORIL) in Cote d'Ivoire. As a result of this project, the production and sales of targeted farmers increased by 50% compared to before the project due to strengthened relationship among stakeholders in the value chain and promotion of the domestic rice by local consumers, which led to improved farming and milling technologies and the access to quality inputs and financial services.

The PRORIL 2 is to accelerate this momentum of value chain integration with an aim to increase the sales of quality local rice through development of bankable supply chains of local rice by:

1) Providing optimized financing services to the local rice value chain's stakeholders,
2) Establishing sustainable system of agricultural machinery service,
3) Improving the production capacity and utilization of quality seed in the target sites,
4) Improving post-harvest and quality control techniques of target farmers, millers, and distributers.

As those activities will be successful in collaboration with a private sector, JICA is looking for a partner to achieve the development of bankable and sustainable local rice supply chain together.

Details for the project are shown below.

[Basic project information]
Country	Republic of Cote d'Ivoire
Project title	Project for Promoting Local Rice phase 2 in Republic of Cote d'Ivoire
Planned implementation period	5 years from first intervention of Japanese experts (Planned Apr 2020 - Apr 2025)
Executing agency	Agency for Rice Development of Ministry of Rice Promotion (ADERIZ), supported by Japanese experts
Target region	To be decided
Project Purpose	Sales of the quality local rice increase through development of bankable supply chains of local rice.