Support for Women’s Entrepreneurship Within the Rice Sector

This project aims at improving women parboilers’ living conditions in the southern part of Benin in the Department of Collines through assisting professional rice steaming organizations. Parboiled rice is a method of husking rice thus enabling the retention of 80% of its nutritional value increasing its resistance to breakage and allowing for better storage conditions. The project is directly benefitting over 1 500 women parboilers and indirectly contributing to the economic well-being of over 21 000 members of their local community. The project’s activities include: (1) developing suitable and accessible funding for the women parboilers; (2) improving access to the rice market in particular through the development of appropriate infrastructures (for instance: rice steaming processing centres); (3) strengthening steamer unions' capacity in good governance and business administration; (4) enhancing women parboilers' access to professional expertise and technological innovation in the area of rice steaming; and (5) providing support aimed at professionally structuring agricultural holdings and promoting agricultural entrepreneurship by professional local organizations.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) the steady improvement of the strategic positioning of the women parboilers Regional Union located in Glazoué of the women parboilers National Union and the rice farmers collaborative council of Benin taking into consideration the cross-cutting themes of gender equality governance and environmental sustainability; and (2) the continuous improvement of the profitability and the competitiveness of these women parboilers businesses (1500) through their associations (30) operating six rice steaming processing centres and one central wrapping centre.