Ivory Coast plans to diversify beyond cocoa, become self-sufficient in rice, and advance the domestic production of commodities through a $4 billion agricultural investment program. The country has signed agreements with Archer Daniels Midland which plans to invest up to $62 million jointly with the Ivorian government to increase agricultural output. The government plans to raise milled rice output to 1.9 million tons by 2016 to meet the 1.5 million tons domestic demand of the country’s population of 24 million and create the possibility that the country will become a rice exporter if annual demand does not exceed 1.9 million by 2016. After rice production in 2013 rose to just over 1 million tons as a result of new varieties, stressing milling and processing capacities within the country, foreign companies will be looked to for investment to increase the milling capacities within the country.
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