11 Feb 2012

COTE D’IVOIRE / AGRICULTURE

After ten years of civil war, farmers in Ivory Coast are taking advantage of the good prospects for security, political stability and making up for lost time. So far over 800 farmers have been trained to grow quality rice seeds, as well as maize, yams and cassava through a project financed by the European Union and managed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). IFAD

Posted at: February 11, 2012 12:02 am

Duration: 03:24

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: CÔTE D'IVOIRE / AGRICULTURE
TRT: 3.24
SOURCE: IFAD 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: DECEMBER 2011, BOUNDIALI / KORHOGO / YAMOUSSOUKRO / FERKESSE / BAMORO / KARAKORO, CÔTE D'IVOIRE

SHOTLIST:

DECEMBER 2011, BOUNDIALI, CÔTE D'IVOIRE

1.	Various shots, woman's cooperative harvesting rice  in field 
2.	Various shots, woman's cooperative beating rice to remove the grains
3.	Various shots, Madame Gnandia Fofana, President of Women's Cooperative talking to coop members 
4.	SOUNDBITE (French) Madame Gnandia Fofana, President of Boundiali's Women's Cooperative: 
"Before it was only suffering, suffering, suffering we couldn't find any food to eat. But now selling these rice seeds we can buy food and we are doing well."
5.	Various shots, woman's cooperative putting rice in bags and loading tractor 
6.	Various shots, Madame Gnandia Fofana collecting water from well at her home 
7.	SOUNDBITE (French) Madame Gnandia Fofana, President of Boundiali's Women's Cooperative: 
"Thanks to this rice I can build a house, rent a tractor and can do what men can do. Now we are the same as men."
8.	Various shots, Fofana's coop spreading out rice grains to dry

DECEMBER 2011, KORHOGO, CÔTE D'IVOIRE

9.	Various shots, training in classroom and field  
10.	Various shots, trainees walking in rice fields
11.	Med shot, Gnandia Fofana inspecting rice and discussing with other rice growers

DECEMBER 2011, BOUNDIALI, CÔTE D'IVOIRE

12.	Various shots, loading seeds on lorry

DECEMBER 2011, YAMOUSSOUKRO, CÔTE D'IVOIRE

13.	Various shots, Government seed warehouse and machines separating good grains from bad 
14.	Med shot, Government certifier taking sample of seeds from sacks for quality check
15.	Wide shot, Sacks of seeds in cold storage  
16.	SOUNDBITE (French) Morife Cissé,  Head of Training, PPMS:
"For almost 10 years now bad quality seeds have been used. This training has enabled farmers to get good quality seeds and has meant that their yield has increased greatly."

DECEMBER 2011, FERKESSE, CÔTE D'IVOIRE

17.	Various shots, maize harvest

DECEMBER 2011, BAMORO, CÔTE D'IVOIRE

18.	Various shots, Yam and Cassava harvest

DECEMBER 2011, KORHOGO, CÔTE D'IVOIRE

19.	Pull focus, flowers to woman framer Farmers in rice field

DECEMBER 2011, KARAKORO, CÔTE D'IVOIRE

20.	Various shots, rice harvest

DECEMBER 2011, KORHOGO, CÔTE D'IVOIRE

21.	Various shots, women farmers and rice fields

DECEMBER 2011, FERKESSE, CÔTE D'IVOIRE

22.	Wide shot, woman farmer walking on road

STORYLINE:

After 10 years of civil war farmers in Ivory Coast are fighting poverty by growing a new breed of rice.
 
It's harvest time in Ivory Coast but this rice is not destined for the dinner table.

This woman's cooperative is producing high quality rice seeds, which they sell to a government run seed bank In a country reeling from a decade of civil war, these farmers are playing a key role in reducing poverty.

Madame Gnandia Fofana is president of this coop.

They started growing rice for seeds two years ago and are already reaping the benefits.

SOUNDBITE (French) Madame Gnandia Fofana, President of Boundiali's Women's Cooperative: 
"Before it was only suffering, suffering, suffering we couldn't find any food to eat. But now selling these rice seeds we can buy food and we are doing well."

Gnandia's group is growing Wita 9.  A productive and more pest resilient breed of rice and have almost doubled their yield and their profits More earnings, for Gnandia, a widow with three children, means more independence, especially in a country where women are responsible for growing over half the food but rely on men for access to land.

SOUNDBITE (French) Madame Gnandia Fofana, President of Boundiali's Women's Cooperative: 
"Thanks to this rice I can build a house, rent a tractor and can do what men can do. Now we are the same as men."

To ensure the seeds are of high quality, Gnandia needs a government certificate and must adhere to strict regulations, from the choice of  terrain to the correct way of drying the seeds.

Together with 30 other rice producers from different zones, Gnandia was selected to attend a two-day, intensive training course and had the opportunity to share experiences with fellow rice growers.

So far over 800 farmers have been trained to grow quality rice seeds. All seeds produced are sent to a government warehouse.

Here machines separate the good grains from the bad.

After a third and final quality check they are stored until next planting season when they will be distributed to thousands of farmers.

SOUNDBITE (French) Morife Cissé,  Head of Training, PPMS:
"For almost 10 years now bad quality seeds have been used. This training has enabled farmers to get good quality seeds and has meant that their yield has increased greatly."

It is not only rice; maize, yams and cassava cultivations are all being improved through this project financed by the European Union's 1 billion euro food facility and managed by IFAD, the UN agency dedicated to rural development.

Taking advantage of the good prospects for security and political stability, project activities are making up for lost time.

In Ivory Coast, fighting poverty goes hand in hand with keeping peace.