Introducing Rice Milling as a Service to Sub-Saharan Africa

**Problem:** 44 African countries produced 22.1 million metric tonnes (MMT) of processed rice (FAOSTAT 2018). With 14.24m ha planted, paddy yields vary from 0.59 MT/ha (Congo) to 8.83 MT/ha (Egypt). Annually, Nigeria, with the largest African population, consumes 7MMT of processed rice. Like many African countries, Nigeria should be self-sufficient. However, poor field yields (2.04 MT/ha) and inadequate processing infrastructure cannot match imported rice quality. Consequently, even as the largest producer: 4.6MMT, 2.4MMT is imported at a cost of $1.82bn. Circa 1.8MMT is processed by 10,000 low, quality small processors (1MT/day). Revenue from rice is circa $2,8bn in 2020, projected CAGR (2020-2025) is 7.9%.

75% of Nigerian smallholders are female. They undertake 80% of the workload yet access only 20% of the value. Post-harvest losses results in a 12.4% FOOD LOSS. Urbanisation, economic growth, and government policies are driving demand for high quality locally produced rice.

**Solution:** Engaging with smallholders to scale, adapt, extend, and apply Koolmill technology will unlock access to added value processing, empowering 1.43m smallholders to produce high quality locally processed rice. Equal access to productive resources will enable increased female post-harvest value participation. A novel pay-as-you-mill business model makes the technology affordable, building an inclusive and sustainable rice value chain in SSA.

**Key Objectives**

Engage with 5 to 10 smallholders and 5 SME Millers.

1. Improving quality and competitiveness of local rice: Improving productivity and quality changes the rice value chain dynamics. Potentially substituting 10% of imports will create and retain value from locally processed high-quality rice
2. Environmental impact: low-power, high-performance processing maximise food return from existing harvests
3. Empower female and youth participation in an inclusive rice value chain: Work with female and youth groups to identify needs and, through the adaptation of Koolmill technology, increase participation in an inclusive value chain.
4. Release female workers from menial tasks: to deliver sustainable long-term societal benefits. Reduce number of hours women spend on menial tasks (\>6hrs a day)

**Innovative:** engagement with end users to understand their needs and evolve a technical, economically viable solution meeting those needs. The application of suitably adapted technology is innovative and, if adopted by smallholders, can be easily scaled to target the wider pan-African market. A simpler, distributed off-grid, economically viable on-demand processing solution delivering high-quality rice at point of use will unlock true value for rural farmers. Maximising the food returned from existing harvests, moves Nigeria towards Net Zero Carbon and Zero Hunger.