Rice parboiling in Burkina Faso: women hold the purse strings

From Halifax Stanfield International airport at 4pm on June 27^th to Montreal Pierre-Elliott Trudeau, then to Ouagadougou International airport via Paris-Charles-De-Gaulle airport, I am finally in Burkina Faso on June 28^th at 8:20pm local time, for an exciting Leave for Change mandate for which understanding and appropriation of my mission started in early May 2015. Ouagadougou has a hot semi-arid steppe climate and this time of the year is the beginning of the rainy cold season. From my smartphone, the weather app was indicating 27^oC, wind speed 0 km/h. After about an hour of arrival routine at the airport, I stepped out and Issa Sawadogo (Uniterra driver) was there exhibiting a paper on which my name was written. I went to him and received a warm welcome, in the “African style”. First direction, “Maison des hotes chez Giuliana”, a hostel owned by an Italian woman established in Burkina Faso. I am informed that another Canadian, Chelsea from Ottawa is around, and three others are expected two days later.

With no recovery from the 3 hour jet lag and long trip, I was up and ready for the first activity on June 29^th. At 8:30 a.m, Issa showed up and drove Chelsea and I to Uniterra central office. A 30 minute drive that took us to Somgande (Ouagadougou North), where we were welcomed by Noel Zankone (Human Resource Manager), who gave us a tour of the building, during which I was introduced, among others to Fatimata Lankoande (Uniterra country coordinator and Director of WUSC-Burkina), Adama Ouedraogo (CECI programme Director), Clementine Vimbamba (Uniterra program officer), and other long term volunteers.

The introduction meeting began at 9:45. Around the table with me were Clementine, Rasmane Compaore (Capitalization and Systematization Officer), and Noel. All participants introduced themselves again and Clementine gave a presentation on the review of the Uniterra program, followed by a discussion on my mandate until lunch time. The afternoon was dedicated to shopping, bank and other first needs.

Tuesday 30^th at 9:00, departure to Bobo Dioulasso, second town in the country and the one with the highest concentration of economic activities, 5 hour drive west of Ouagadougou on an entirely asphalt road (only since very recently). My mandate is to support the National Union of Rice Parboilers of Burkina Faso, headquartered in Bobo Dioulasso, through a quality assurance pilot project with the Bama Centre for Rice Parboiling, located 25 km west of Bobo Dioulasso. Parboiling is a process that involves soaking and then precooking the paddy rice.

Figure: My introductory visit at the National Union of Rice Parboilers of Burkina Faso (UNERIZ). From left to right: the admin assistant, Clementine Vimbamba (Uniterra program officer), Etienne Mfoumou (NSCC volunteer), Alimatou Ouedraogo (UNERIZ Executive Administrator), and Bourima (student intern).

In Burkina Faso, privatization of the rice industry two decades ago spelled hard times for rice producers. As growers increasingly abandoned production and productivity declined, CECI responded by supporting the revival of an ancestral practice that has proven itself time and time again: rice parboiling by women. This processing technique traditionally passed down from mother to daughter improves the texture and nutritional quality of the paddy rice, thereby increasing its value in the local market and earning more income for the household.

By joining together and forming associations, Burkinan entrepreneurs have been able to take advantage of numerous training opportunities, and those in Bama and Banzon now each have the benefit of a parboiling facility built by GCIUS (Groupe de Collaboration International en Ingénierie de l’Université de Sherbrooke), a group of young engineers from the Université de Sherbrooke volunteering with Uniterra. The facilities in Bama and Banzon provide the women with a working environment that is conducive to meeting standards of both hygiene and product quality.

By adding value to an agricultural product and helping to market it, CECI has enabled women to earn an income and to gain self-confidence. In Burkina Faso as elsewhere, development is closely tied to the economic empowerment of women. However, more can be done and the quality of rice in the market is still not meeting the expected standard and therefore, is negatively impacted by competition from imported rice. Through a partnership between the Nova Scotia Community College and Uniterra, my mandate will consist in reviewing and optimizing the quality control process from post-harvesting to packaging, to achieve food security and improve nutrition.

Stay tuned for the next episode!!!