Dr. Amadou Moustapha Bèye, former regional representative of AfricaRice, moreover, managing director of Many, an experienced technician, is convinced that Côte d'Ivoire, with the support of the State, development partners and the private sector, can achieve self-sufficiency in rice within five years. He expressed his optimism during the meeting organized in Abidjan by the American Chamber of Commerce on July 28.

Tiahmo Rauf and Dr Amadou Moustapha Bèye, heads of the Many initiative, want to take up the challenge of mechanizing agriculture. To achieve this, the former regional representative suggests that the government consider setting up an Agricultural Development Fund inspired by the Marshall Plan which enabled European countries to succeed in the Agricultural Revolution. It proposes the creation of a guarantee fund of 30 billion FCfa. This Fund, entrusted to an ad hoc committee, will be used to guarantee loans to pool leaders in support of smallholder farmers. Dr. Bèye sees the support of the State of Côte d'Ivoire through the opening of irrigated perimeters, farmers' access to agricultural inputs, and equipment. This is what he calls “recapitalization”. In addition, the speaker indicates that to guarantee success, these efforts will have to be supported by good governance, land reforms, research and education, and respect for biodiversity and ecosystems, so as not to repeat the mistakes of the green revolution. On the question of “recapitalisation”, the operators of the rice sector in Côte d'Ivoire present at the conference were in unison with the former regional representative of AfricaRice.