A few years ago, who had ever heard of these women, from Bama and Banzon? In spite of the fact that they had rescued the flailing rice trade, by processing and adding value to the raw paddy rice by pre-cooking or steaming it, to make what is popularly known as “American rice”, a reference to rice distributed by the American Catholic Relief organisation, well known just a few years ago (pre-cooked or parboiled rice). Today the women ask to be publicly recognised and have their say. They therefore have organised themselves in village associations, sometimes united in a joint organisation (as in Bama or in Nyassan in the Sourou valley. Thus at the meeting in Ouagadougou the participants represented several thousand women, members of various groups and associations.

There are, on the other hand, many women outside the organisational framework. They sell their parboiled rice directly on the village or neighbourhood market. The price is usually very low, around 240 to 250 CFA francs/kg. And there is no quality guarantee for the consumer. The same kind of rice is at times put into nicely labelled bags by traders and sold at over 300 francs/kg by them.

The organised women, instead, have joined together in local unions and associations to provide quality rice. Thanks to training courses, the installation of raised drying platforms and internal quality control they are able to put only good quality rice on the market, of guaranteed origin.  In this way the women have been able to conquer numerous markets in a modern sector of the economy. At present the quality rice is sold locally at 300 to 360 francs/kg and at 400 in Ouagadougou.

And now a new big player has suddenly emerged on the parboiled rice markets in Burkina, the SONAGESS (Société Nationale du Stock de Sécurité Alimentaire – a state company that buys and stocks rice for food security purposes). It offers 320 francs/kg, which is not high but still worth while for the women, because of the solidity of the company. The women need not take on the transport of their rice to the cities of Ouagadougou or Bobo Dioulasso, the SONAGESS picks up the rice in the various rice plains and valleys. And more importantly, it pays right away. And not only – if the company has ordered 300 tons it also accepts to come and fetch the rice in 30 ton batches, paying on the spot. In this way both rice farmers and women processors will quickly have their cash.

The women of the Song-Taaba (“Help each other”) association in Nyassan were able to deliver 60 tons of parboiled rice in their village. After a quick quality check, the SONAGESS bought the lot and the women received payment by check (through the rice farmers’ association, which has a bank account in nearby Tougan). A few days later, the money was available and the women had their cash, some receiving over 200 000 francs. This was the first time in their lives that they could lay hands on such an amount of money. 13 among them decided to buy themselves a new bike (see photo). Far from squandering their revenue, they went to make deposits at the Credit and Savings Bank of Nyassan, in order to later buy paddy rice (about 60 tons) from the rice farmers’ co-operative, CANI. The women of the Song Taaba were able to buy over 30 tons of paddy (raw) rice, which they have already started to parboil.

In about a month the harvest of the “dry season” will start, there will be more paddy rice available. If the SONAGESS accepts letting the women have the paddy rice, this will go a long way to reduce poverty in Nyassan and in other rice districts of Burkina.

A word of explanation with regard to the above: At the last harvest the SONAGESS took away half of the paddy rice brought in by the farmers to their co-operative, as payment/reimbursement for the fertiliser supplied by the company. If instead the SONAGESS agrees to let the women have the paddy rice and buys up the rice once it has been parboiled, the women will be able to double their earnings. A request to that effect has already been submitted to the Director General and has been well received. The official reply is now eagerly awaited.

If the Burkina government and the SONAGESS really wish to combat poverty in the rice plains and river valleys,they now have all the necessary tools in their hands!

The women themselves are prepared to strengthen their organisations and thereby also enhancing both the quality and the quantity of domestic rice, for the benefit of consumers and the balance of trade of Burkina.

Koudougou, April 5th 2010
Maurice Oudet
Director, SEDELAN