Food systems

Improving the economic and social status of parboiled rice producers

Brief description of the project

Within the National Union of Cooperatives of Women Parboiled Rice Producers of Burkina Faso(UNERIZ), this project aims to accelerate and expand the process of empowering women and young “parboilers”. For the production of parboiled rice, the raw rice is partially cooked in its husk in a special process that increases its nutritional value. The economic and political situation of women is strongly influenced and usually hindered by the community and family environment in which they live. Here, there are serious disadvantages for women in terms of their participation and representation, capacity building, access to and control of resources and production factors.

This project not only improves the economic and social status of the women, but also contributes to the food security of the population. This is achieved by increasing the quantity and quality of parboiled rice, which the women producers market themselves as part of their UNERIZ membership.

Project goals

• Increase the productivity and quality of paddy rice produced by rice production cooperatives through the adoption of climate-resilient practices and relevant innovations
• Sustainably improve the quality and consistency of parboiled rice produced by parboiling centres and the Centre de Finition et de Distribution du Riz (CFD), in accordance with national standards and market requirements.
• The positioning of parboiled rice on national and institutional markets is to be strengthened. At the same time, women parboiled rice producers are to be strengthened and social norms in favor of gender equality are to be promoted.