On October 1st we sent out a plea for parboiled rice.  And just before Christmas a public debate was held on the merits of parboiled rice. On the panel : a rice farmer from Bama, a rice processing woman worker from Banzon, a specialist in nutritional medicine, a representative of the Consumers’ League and myself. The debate was broadcast on national TV shortly afterwards.

I think I am right in saying that attitudes are changing at present. The demand for white, milled rice is obviously still quite strong, but those who have tasted the parboiled rice (the TS2 variety in particular) sold under the brand name of Anyongontè, (« unparalleled” , “the best” in jula),are amazed and unanimously agree that this rice is different – and above all excellent. Chefs and cooks tell us that this variety is easy to prepare and that it even swells during cooking !

Therefore, as you can see, the present trend vindicates all those who have already converted to Burkinabè rice. Since a couple of days a debate has taken off around imports of foreign rice declared unfit for human and animal consumption by the Embassy of Burkina Faso in Accra, Ghana and the National Council of hauliers. 2000 bags of such rice have already been imported to Burkina. Reportedly this rice has now been analysed and declared “of acceptable quality” by the Trade Ministry.

Whatever the case may be, the Trade Ministry is well aware (but does not interfere) that large quantities of imported rice in Burkina originate from Asian stocks that were initially meant for animal fodder and are over 5 years old. One can hardly expect more from such rice than an “acceptable quality”!

 Since the price of imported white (milled) rice has been going up and has now reached the same level as the parboiled domestic rice, why hesitate? Let us change our eating habits. Take care of our health! Go for quality! Let us turn to rice produced in Burkina, or even better: parboiled rice produced in Burkina.

“Acceptable quality” is not enough!
We should eat our own home grown rice.

Even public institutions are now turning to parboiled domestic rice.

The training college of the diocese of Koudougou now serves parboiled rice from the Sourou valley. Lavigerie, a training centre for African missionaries near Ouagadougou, has also just opted for parboiled rice. And most important, the National Centre for Management of Food Security Stocks, the SONAGESS (Société Nationale de Gestion du Stock de Sécurité alimentaire) is also taking an interest. The farmers’ cooperative in Niassan, (Sourou), CANI (Coopérative agricole de Niassan) has thus been able to sign a contract with the SONAGESS. for the delivery of 60 tonnes of parboiled rice at a relatively good price. The deal is likely to be renewed, provided the first contract goes well.

 Consumers like to eat this rice, especially when cooked with the local soumbala spice (natural and vegetal, but its flavour is similar to Jumbo or Maggi cubes). On week-ends the restaurant in Bama (25km north of Bobo Dioulasso, set under the mango trees, has become a popular outing with the city people. They go there to taste the soumbala rice, parboiled by the women of Bama (a small rice centre nearby).

 This rice dish, served with a “poule bicyclette” (= freegoing chicken, which run about and pick everywhere, and therefore are lean with spindly legs, like the spokes of a bicycle wheel) is likely to dethrone the famous yassa chicken of Senegal. Do not be the last ones to discover it !

In Sourou and elsewherethe women are organising themselves to produce parboiled quality rice. Raised concrete platforms have been built for sun-drying the steamed rice on a clean surface free from stones. They are now about to buy small pedal powered grain harvesters, so that they can remove the grains from the stalks of paddy rice without breaking them. They hold the paddy plants upside down and insert them into the turbine. The traditional way of beating whole bunches of rice stalks against old 200 litre oil drums had two drawbacks: some of the grains were lost and others were broken.

Finally it should be noted that in order to avoid parboiled Sourou rice turning up on the market under a Thai or other label for milled rice, the producers of the Sourou district have opened their own shop (see picture) in Ouagadougou, at Pissy along the motorway from Ouagadougou to Bobo Dioulasso. Its sign reads “Riz étuvé du Sourou” (Parboiled rice from Sourou).

 Hence the prospects for the good rice from Sourou seem bright, for the rice farmers and the women workers.

 Koudougou February 4th 2010
Maurice Oudet
Director, SEDELAN

 * N.B. Parboiled rice is steamed before being husked. Therefore its nutritional properties resist better, the grain is softer and less damaged by the husking. Parboiled rice is slightly transparent and yellowish, but it turns white during cooking. It does not stick and its flavour is more delicate than that of brown rice.