Lors de la 7ème édition du Salon international de l' agriculture et des ressources animales d' Abidjan (SARA), qui s' est tenu du 23 mai au 1 VERSA style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style”, serif"> June 2025, of meetings were held between Ousmane Bereté, Director General of the Guinea Investment Corporation and officials of the Ivorian Agency for the Development of the Rice Sector (ADERIZ). Following these meetings, talks were announced between Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire with a view to establishing a formal channel for technical collaboration in rice farming

In Africa, rice is the third most consumed cereal after maize and wheat. Indeed, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire want to pool their efforts in the face of the challenge of self-sufficiency in the sector. Among the priorities identified in the framework of this cooperation are the strengthening of the capacities of actors in the rice sector, the coordination of investments in key infrastructures such as hydro-agricultural developments and processing equipment. Mention was also made of the promotion of local rice on national and regional markets, the creation of a sustainable financing mechanism for the sector, as well as the labelling and commercial valorization of locally produced rice

In Côte d'Ivoire, the government aims to increase domestic production of milled rice by nearly 55% in order to achieve self-sufficiency by 2026. In the meantime, the country still depends on imports for 46% to meet domestic market needs, estimated at an average of 2.8 million tons, according to the USDA

In Guinea, the latest projections made by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggest that milled rice production is expected to stagnate at 2.3 million tons in 2024-2025, while consumption is expected to increase by 140 000 tonnes pour atteindre pr è s