Gazoriz: Rice husk gasification for an improved rice transformation process

SNV believes in off-grid biomass gasification solutions that are adapted to Burkina Faso's context, to support food security and products’ competitiveness. In this project, rice husk gasifiers will be used to produce the required heat to parboil paddy rice, but also to supply the rice mill with electricity to hull 2,000 T of parboiled rice at the Union of Women Rice Parboilers Groups of Bama.

This is expected to have an impact of a 40% increase in income for 700 rice parboilers in Bama and an intensification of income-generating activities to sustain the initial income coming from the rice production.

GazoRiz project's objectives are:

• Increase annual production capacity: Doubling production capacity (from 1000 T to 2 000T parboiled rice per year) of UGER-B through the deployment of rice husk gasification technology;

• Improving income: Increase income by 40% and sustain current incomes (16 500 FCFA / month / woman) of rice steamers women exercising individual steaming activity (at home) and collective (at center steaming). Currently the production of soap and soumbala by women enhances women's earnings by about 10% with the profits from the sale of these products and the implementation of other activities will increase these incomes more;

• Improve the technical and organisational capacities of women of UGER-B through training and capacity building of 629 rice steamers women in the use and maintenance of the new equipment installed (in the rice mill of UGER- B)

• Provide business opportunities by demonstrating the possibility for private actors to supplement fossil fuels with technology enhancing agricultural residues, available in abundance and at low cost;

• Install and promote appropriate technology in the regional market through the use of renewable energy in the agricultural processing units at municipal level, national or even regional (neighboring countries).

To achieve these objectives, SNV has implemented many activities since January 2014 including:

• A baseline study on the production of parboiled rice helped Bama to know that 100% of women rice steamers steaming to make parboiling center and home for an average income 16 500 FCFA (41.25 US $) / month / woman;

• 2 rice husk gasification systems that produce heat respectively for steaming and electricity to rice milling have been acquired and are being installed in Bama;

• Finalising a self sustaining solar pumping system capable of providing more than 10m3 of water per day (vital for steaming), a rice storage magazine and two sheds for husking and rice parboiling in better working conditions;

• Conducting an institutional diagnosis in which the strengths and weaknesses of UGER -B were detected and show the need for training in good governance, management and maintenance ;

• Entrepreneurial activities (production of soap, soumbala) implemented and followed to help increase women's income , but also a practical way to learn the right techniques of management, good governance and preventive maintenance application at of UGER-B.