Promotion of the Rice Value Chain in Benin

A case study on the cooperation between Beninese farmers’ organisations, the Belgian retailer Colruyt and Vredeseilanden/VECO. Vredeseilanden/VECO started the rice programme in 2002 to boost the capacities of farmers and their organisations to produce high quality rice that can successfully compete with imported Asian rice on the domestic market, and eventually enter the export market. The central goal is to increase farmers' incomes through improved cultivation and access to modern, dynamic markets. Stimulating local production and deployment of an effective local value chain will also help cope with future food crises. The programme has resulted in significant outcomes, including local self-sufficiency for households in the Collines, a 50% increase in per hectare productivity, professionalized farmers’ organisations that have developed the ability to export, and international Fair Trade certification, and a positive relationship forged between producers and the Belgian supermarket chain,Colruyt.

Principal Author: VECO November 2011