The Raviart dam project in Ivory Coast has been launched. Power China Municipal Construction Group performed the launch ceremony in the Didiévi division, Aries region.
The US $5M project is being built on the Kpékpan River. The project involves construction of a dam with a 1.3 km dike and development of 125 hectares of land downstream from the dam that will be used for rice farming.
The Raviart irrigation dam will retain 8 million m3 of water over an area of 262 hectares. Over 300 rice farmers will be supplied with water which in return improve their production. The Raviart irrigation project is being financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the government of Ivory Coast. The dam will supply its first cubic metres of water in January 2022.
Solving problems in agricultural and agro-industrial sector
The construction of the water reservoir is part of the Agro-Industrial Pole Project in the Bélier region (2PAI-Bélier). This project favours an integrated approach to solving the problems that hamper the development of the agricultural and agro-industrial sector, particularly the supply of water.
Rice consumes far more water than any other cereal. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), this water is used for evapotranspiration, infiltration and drainage, specific water management before tillage and drainage before tillering.
Rice production is practiced by about 8% of the country’s population. The average farm size is about 0.8 ha in upland and 0.3 ha in irrigated rice. Upland rice is generally grown as a mono-crop or as in a mixture with other food crops following the slash-and-burn shifting cultivation almost without any application of chemical fertilizer and other ago-chemical. The low percentage is as a result of lack of appropriate tools and equipment for harvesting and threshing of rice.
