Africa is a farming mecca, filled with more arable land than can actually be farmed. The Democratic Republic of Congo is one country where farmers are now making hay while the sun shines and are uplifting their communities as a result of their business with one of the country’s biggest beer brewers, Bralima.
The mega brewer began a rice growing programme a couple of years ago and it has not only helped with their brewing business, but also with the community by supporting local entrepreneurship and increasing local farmers’ incomes. “Rice is being cultivated in a lot of places in this country. You can grow rice virtually everywhere because there are always rivers, land gets flooded and you end up needing very little money to grow the rice,” says Hans van Mameren, the general manager of Bralima.
Through the project, the farmers are given a piece of land to farm, learning independence as they go along, earning an income, as well as becoming better farmers. The farmers are guaranteed a good price for their produce, for which they are paid in dollar currency for every kilogram of rice that they produce. Because they’re not dependant on the exchange rate, the farmers find themselves in a far better position than ever before, and they are not only able to feed their families now, they are also able to build better houses as well as pay for their children’s educations.
Rice plays an important role in the brewing of beer, but not all of the rice that is grown is used by the brewery. Some is set aside for international export, some is used by the local industries, and the rest is used for consumption. “The local production of rice feeds about 80 percent of the people in the region – this helps our country to improve the import and export balance,” says one woman. In fact, business has never been better for the rice farmers, and they’re easily able to meet their annual requirement of 12 000 tons… Not bad for a project that is only a few years old.
The farmers have taken to their new crops, constantly being given education and tips on how to improve their skills as rice farmers. “They come to see what we do here – it’s like a school for farmers. We started with a demonstration piece of land, and now there are many farmers who want to participate,” says Pierre Bolonge, a supervisor of the Kisangani Rice Project.
At the rate that these rice farmers are going, Asia might have to find a new crop to start farming if they’re not careful.
Photograph: © Gail Johnson | Dreamstime.com
