IVORY COAST (CÔTE D’IVOIRE)

Overview of SRI in Côte d’Ivoire

System of Rice Intensification (SRI) activities were first documented in Côte d’Ivoire during 2014 following the onset of the West Africa Agriculture Productivity Program’s (WAAPP) regional Improving and Scaling up SRI in West Africa (SRI-WAAPP) project. Following initial trials overseen by the SRI-WAAPP National Facilitator for Côte d’Ivoire, Dr. Alphonse Bouet, the project focus zoned in on peri-urban areas across the country. The map at right lists SRI trial sites as of 2016. The second regional workshop, attended by 60 participants from the 13 West African countries involved in the SRI-WAAPP project, took place in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, February 16-19, 2015. Various additional SRI-WAAPP trainings are outlined in the progress/activities section below.

Progress and Activities

2017 Updates
  • arrowYamoussoukro Farmer Shares SRI Experience at 4th International Exhibition of Agriculture and Animal Resources[November 27, 2017] Yao Kouakou Marcel (right), a rice producer from Yamoussoukro, presented his SRI expertise on November 25 at the 4th International Exhibition of Agriculture and Animal Resources at the FIRCA Innovation Stand. He received training from the West Africa Agriculture Productivity Program (WAAPP), which is carried out in Côte d’Ivoire by the Interprofessional Fund for Research and Agricultural Council (FIRCA). According to an article in Agrici.net, Marcel relayed that “It’s SRI that has allowed me today to be autonomous because it really increases yields per hectare and slightly reduce the cost of production. In the past, we took 50 or 40 kg of seed for the establishment of a hectare, but with the SRI, I use only 10 kg for the establishment of a hectare. So, if I have to buy the seed at 1000 FCFA per kilogram, instead of 40 or 50,000 FCFA, it’s only 10,000 francs and in terms of transport, it’s easier. Even if I do not have a bike, I take my 10 kg, I go to the field and I quietly sow them. He added that by that using SRI with a short duration variety, he can harvest eight to nine tons per hectare whereas before, he could expect five to six tons per hectare at the most. Financially, this technique amounts to around 600,000 to 700,000 FCFA profit per hectare.”In conclusion, SRI has brought me a lot and I invite all my fellow producers and those who today want to cultivate rice to use this technique,” says Marcel, who is from Yamoussoukro, on the outskirts of Subiakro, on the road to the Oumé Corridor. In addition to the training he received, he relayed that FIRCA enabled him to interact with the general public at SARA 2017, to make contacts, and to teach the visitors, some of whom have never seen a rice stand. Even if FIRCA stops their assistance, he plans continue sharing and, in fact, already has contracts underway to teach other producers how to do better rice farming and feed the country’s people with good rice. [See French language article in Agrici.net for more information]
2016
  • arrow SRI-WAAPP Project Reports SRI Success in Côte d’Ivoire[April 25, 2016] A report compiled by Dr. Alphonse Bouet, National Facilitator of SRI in Côte d’Ivoire, documents how SRI-WAAPP efforts to increase productivity in rice through SRI have been making progress toward improving self-sufficiency for rice as well as export capacity in Côte d’Ivoire. Through the regional West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP)’s SRI initiative, 155 rice farmers were trained in SRI methods during 2015, with comparative improvements over traditional methods at all nine sites, including grain per panicle increases of 12-48%, and yield increases up to 67%. Due to reported successes, these preliminary extension efforts have already inspired SRI adoption outside of test sites, with 22 hectares being independently cultivated outside of the project area. (See French language report for details and the May 12 feature article for stories on farmer and extension staff successes with SRI.)
2015
  • arrow Côte d’Ivoire represented at SRI-WAAPP Project Regional M&E Events[August 20, 2015] Côte d’Ivoire was represented at the several SRI-WAAPP monitoring and evaluation events during 2015: The Regional GIS and Mobile Data Collection Workshop during August 2015, the Regional M&E and Baseline Workshop, held in Dakar, Senegal, June 2015, and the Regional GIS and Mobile Data Collection Workshop, held in Cotonou, Benin, May / June 2015.
  • arrowDaloa Region Shares SRI Progress through New Facebook Page[April 2015] SRI-WAAPP participants from Daloa made a facebook group (SRI Daloa) during April 2015 on which project participants from their area share information on their SRI progress with others in Daloa as well as with people from all over the world. The facebook group is located at https://www.facebook.com/groups/sridaloa/.
  • arrowNational Training of Trainers Workshop on SRI in Côte d’Ivoire[February 26, 2015] An SRI training of trainers workshop was organized by FIRCA/WAAPP from February 22-24 in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, bringing together more than 60 participants, extension staff and farmers from all over the country. The trainers included the SRI-WAAPP National Facilitator, Alphonse Bouet from CNRA, and a team from the regional coordination unit, Minamba Bagayoko from CNS-Riz Mali, as well as Erika Styger and Devon Jenkins from SRI-Rice at Cornell University. [See French language training report.]
  • arrowRegional SRI Workshop Held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire[February 19, 2015] The second annual regional workshop for the SRI-WAAPP project, where yearly planning and first-year achievements were discussed, was held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. (The first planning workshop for the project which was held in Porto Novo, Benin in February 2014). The four-day regional SRI event brought together over 60 participants from the 13 West African countries that are part of the West Africa Agriculture Productivity Program (WAAPP) to discuss the progress with SRI in 2014 and to plan country and regional activities for 2015 under the 3-year project “Improving and Scaling up SRI in West Africa,” for which SRI-Rice provides technical support and advice. The event was co-organized by CNS-Riz from Mali, the FIRCA/WAAPP from Côte d’Ivoire, and SRI-Rice from Cornell University in New York. SRI-Rice is technical and strategic partner for the SRI-WAAPP project, and maintains the project website and facebook page.
2012-2014
  • Côte d’Ivoire Joins World Bank-Funded Project on Improving and Scaling up SRI in West AfricaAs one of 13 participating countries in West Africa Agriculture Productivity Program‘s (WAAPP) regional Improving and Scaling up SRI in West Africa (SRI-WAAPP) project, Côte d’Ivoire receives funding for SRI activities and participates in regional workshops, trainings and meetings. The SRI-WAAPP National Facilitator for Côte d’Ivoire is Dr. Alphonse Bouet. For more about SRI activities in Côte d’Ivoire through the SRI-WAAPP project, visit the SRI-WAAPP Côte d’Ivoire page. Since the project’s initial planning Cote d’Ivoire, has participated in the following regional activities​. While the project formally began in 2014, Cote d’Ivoire was represented at various planning meetings and regional activities for SRI-WAAPP beginning in July 2012 with a regional workshop in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Reports and Articles .

Presentations

 

Videos

  • 2015 (April 17). SRI in Côte d’Ivoire. 11:04 min. Produced by FIRCA. SRI-Rice channel, YouTube. [TV clip from the Ivory Coast FIRCA show Terre & Progrès]

Photos