Brewery injects success into rice farming

In resource-rich DRC, Pierre Bolonge oversees a bunch of farmers who ply their trade with one of the country’s biggest beer producers, Bralima Breweries. And their crop is the simplest of all.

Bralima Breweries’ rice growing programme is now a self-sustaining enterprise. Pierre Bolonge supervises the Kisangani Rice Project, and has found commercial success in the world’s most abundant cash crop – rice.

Rice isn’t only one of the world’s most stable cash crops – it’s also incredibly easy to grow.

You can grow rice virtually everywhere because there are always rivers, so land gets flooded and you end up needing very little money to grow the rice,” says Hans van Mameren, General Manager of Bralima Breweries, the company that funds the farmers for their produce.

Bralima gives farmers a parcel of land apiece, forcing them to master the art of self-sustainability. But not all the rice is used by the brewery. Some is exported, some is used by local industry, and the rest is consumed and sold by the farmers themselves. Pierre is always guaranteed a good price for his produce, and is paid in dollars for every kilogram of rice he produces. Because the farmers aren’t dependant on the exchange rate, farmers find themselves in a prime position to feed their families, educate their kids, and make a little profit on the side.

Success is contagious, and it’s curiosity that draws these farmers to the rice paddies spanning DRC’s countryside.

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.

Local rice production feeds 80% of the people in the region, making it a fertile business for these farmers. With such abundance, they’re easily able to meet their annual quota of 12 000 tons. Not bad for a project that’s only a few years old. At the rate these rice farmers are going, Asia might have to find a new crop to start farming if they’re not careful.