Technological and Institutional Innovations Triggered by Farmer-to-Farmer Rice Parboiling Video in Central Benin

In Africa, rice production and processing tasks are allocated on gender basis, with women being responsible for much of the drudgery involved in processing. Parboiling rice is an important processing activity in the north and the centre of Benin. Good parboiling reduces the breakage rate during milling and greatly enhances the nutritional quality of rice. Parboiling is mainly done by women in and around rice production areas and is an important income-generating activity. The traditional rice parboiling method is still dominant and does not yield quality rice. To address this, an improved rice parboiling technology was introduced in central Benin through two training methods: conventional training workshops and farmer-to-farmer video (initiated by Africa Rice Center). To compare these two methods in changing women’s rice processing practices, we interviewed 160 women and 17 women’s groups who had been exposed to both or one of the learning approaches in 16 villages. In addition, we interviewed 40 women processors in 4 control villages which had received no intervention at all. The video was well appreciated by both the NGOs and the target population as a good learning tool in rural areas and had reached three times more women than conventional training. While conventional training was biased by participant selection, stakes in per-diem payment and monopoly by the elite class, video helped to overcome local power structures and reduced conflict at the community level. Women who watched the video enhanced their creativity and adapted their learning to their environment by developing appropriate technologies. They improved their rice parboiling, leading to better quality rice. Apart from triggering local NGOs to improve their training methodology, farmer-to-farmer video also strengthened NGO relations with rural communities, and relationships between the women rice processors and input and output markets