Improved Parboiling Practices in Benin, West Africa

BREE 495 Engineering Design 3 Design 3 Report Presented to Dr. Vijaya Raghavan

By Stéphanie Dumais Stéphanie Mayer Audrey Yank

April 2010 Department of Bioresource Engineering Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences McGill University, Macdonald Campus

1. Executive Summary The international community has agreed that attaining security is one of the major goals of the millennium. In West Africa, this target can be reached through securing the actual food supplies and reducing processing losses. Rice production is an important economical activity in Benin, but low efficiency processing does not make this production competitive on the market. Thus, parboiling activities in Benin are to be improved through the development of more efficient stove, of new parboiling equipment and of an alternate fuel. The main objective will be to improve the efficiency, to lower the cost and to ensure availability of material while being applicable to the parboiling activities in the village of the Département des Collines. The women of the coop in the village of Gobé, will be the main client for that project.

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2. Acknowledgments We would like to thank sincerely:

 The Africa Rice Centre (WARDA) for their generous contribution and support during this project.  Our project supervisor Dr. Robert Kok for his constant advices, his dedication for the project and for sharing this experience with us.  Professors Raghavan and Ngadi for having giving us the opportunity to participate in this project and to be part of this cause.  Dr. Aliou Diagne and Simon Ncho for their time and devotion to this project.  Our colleagues Serge Adjognon and Lidia Dandedjrohoun for their socio- economical contribution and for their presence which significantly help our integration in the Beninese community.  Mrs. Annie Kouakou for her constant help and availability.  Mrs. Solange for her patience and perseverance in helping us in our experiments and showing us how to build traditional clay stoves.  The many workers at the Africa Rice Center for their generous number of hours spent helping us achieving our goals.  The women in the villages of Gobé and Gbaffo that generously received us in their villages and took of their time to be part of this project.  INRAB and the University of Abomey-Calavi for their collaboration.  The drivers, cooks, friends and all the people that contributed to our welfare during our stay and to our integration in the Beninese culture.

This project wouldn’t have been possible without the implication of all those great people. We highly appreciate the time and effort they all have put in this project. They have all truly contributed to the project and they are a part of the success of the present study. We sincerely acknowledge everybody for making our stay in Benin an unforgettable experience.

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3. Table of Content 1. Executive Summary ...... 2 2. Acknowledgments ...... 3 3. Table of Content ...... 4 5. Introduction ...... 7 5.1 General Situation ...... 7 5.2 Rice Situation in Benin ...... 7 6. Location and Context ...... 8 7. Background information ...... 9 7.1 Rice Parboiling ...... 9 7.2 Development of Parboiling ...... 10 7.3 Description of the currently‐used parboiling method ...... 15 8. Problem statement ...... 18 8.1 The Traditional Stove ...... 18 8.2 The Parboiling Equipment ...... 18 8.3 The Energy Source ...... 19 9. Objectives and Scope ...... 19 9.1 General Objectives ...... 19 9.2 Objectives and Scope ‐ Improved stove ...... 20 9.3 Objectives and Scope ‐ Parboiling equipment ...... 20 9.4 Objectives and Scope ‐ Alternative fuel ...... 21 10. Literature Review ...... 21 10.1 Stoves in Developing Countries ...... 21 10.1.1 Stove in Gobé, Benin ...... 22 10.1.2 Material of Construction ...... 23 10.1.3 Example of an Improved Stove ...... 23 10.1.4 Fuel in Use ...... 24 10.1.5 Experiments (on the Sto