Golden Rice 2018: A new loan to develop a high-quality and responsible rice industry in Cambodia

Golden Rice is a company based in Cambodia, specialized in processing, milling and retailing fragrant rice, particularly jasmine rice (fragrant rice with high added value, whose paddy is only produced in Cambodia and Thailand). 

Golden Rice has become a leading player, recognized for the quality of its rice (World’s Best Rice Award two years running) and one of Cambodia’s main rice exporters.

The company benefits from the ISO 9001:2008 certification for its quality management system. 

Proparco’s loan follows on from the first two loans allocated to Golden Rice in 2009 and 2013. It will contribute to supporting the company for the next phase of its development plan. It will finance and refinance investments in the company’s production capacity (drying, milling and re-milling), as well as the doubling of its capacity for electricity generated for its own consumption at its plant (gasification system based on rice husks, 2 MW). 

Proparco is also supporting Golden Rice by financing technical assistance, which will aim to obtain the certifications ISO 14001 (environmental management system) and SA 8000 (social and societal accountability).

Proparco has set up two TA projects with Golden Rice. The first project is to help Golden Rice obtain the certifications ISO 14001 (environmental management system) and SA 8000 (social accountability). The second project aims to help GRC improve its supply chain to make it more sustainable and responsible. This involves (i) improving the management of the E&S risks of its supply chain, including the risks of deforestation and child labor in paddy cultivation, and (ii) implementing a process to improve practices for sourcing from rice producers.

PROPARCO is supporting the development of a key industry for Cambodia’s economy, in a country which is still mainly rural, by supporting processing activities that create local added value. By contributing to structuring the industry and adopting a proactive environmental and social strategy, Golden Rice also has a broader knock-on effect on small producers.

The company currently employs over 250 people and the expansion of its activity will require hiring about a hundred additional people. 16% of jobs are held by women and this proportion should be maintained in the coming years. In terms of indirect jobs, Golden Rice sources from a number of local collectors and small rice growers. In 2018, Golden Rice’s activity is expected to support employment for 73,300 small-scale rice producers. In the long-term, it could concern 162,000.

From an environmental perspective, the project will partially finance the doubling of the electricity generation capacity based on rice husks, which will rise from a capacity of 1 MW to 2 MW. The project will consequently have climate co-benefits.