The “Monchon Rice Plains” refers to a flat, coastal swampy area in the north of Guinea near the small village of Monchon. This land was mostly used by French colonialists in the 1920’s-1930’s to grow sugar cane and pineapples for export. Following the departure of the French over the subsequent decades, and particularly after the 1958 French handover of Guinea to local governance, the site has been generally ignored.
In the mid-1980’s a Russian mining company sought to establish a large bauxite mine in the rich deposits in Guinea. In exchange for its mining concession and in recognition of the potential of this site to produce rice on a commercial basis, the Government of Guinea required the Russians to firstly perform large-scale civil engineering works and the construction of a farming/milling headquarters at Monchon. Extensive drainage and irrigation works were installed, as well as several commercial buildings, housing, and water and electricity infrastructure.
The lasting utility of these developments is a strong testament to the planning, wisdom, and skills of those Russian engineers. However, when these works were completed about 1987 and handed over to the Government of Guinea, there appeared to be neither a viable plan to make use of the property nor an entity capable of executing the plan even had one been conceived. The underutilized, newly-developed property languished for several years.
In December 1996 a government-owned Malaysian rice milling/trading corporation, Bernas, leased most of the property from the Government of Guinea and commenced commercial rice farming and milling operations at Monchon. In 2000, a small 2-mt/hour rice mill was installed inside a large building erected by the Russians over a decade earlier. A small collection of farm machinery was also delivered, little of which survives to this day.
Bernas enjoyed some financial support from the Malaysian government in undertaking the project. A nice plaque is affixed to the wall of the mill building stating the rice mill was dedicated by the Malaysian Minister of Agriculture. Guinea's President Conte himself later paid a personal visit to Bernas’ headquarters in Malaysia.
During this pre-Asian financial crisis timeframe, Malaysia aspired to be a first-world country. Undertaking this and other developmental projects, including operating several national phone companies in West Africa, was Malaysia's proof to the world that it had joined the ranks of highly developed countries.
I visited Bernas’s operation (SOBERGUI) on three occasions from 2000-2002. While the company presented itself in a very professional manner and operated the small rice mill quite ably, I was not impressed with the level of commitment being made to make the project a commercial success from a rice production perspective. The Malaysian staff were very cordial and conversant, but appeared to be poorly motivated to be rice farmers. The SOBERGUI staff admitted that their annual planted area to rice had fallen from an original 400 acres down to about 100 acres--far short of the vast potential of this expansive natural resource.
Following the June 2002 departure of SOBERGUI from Monchon, The Ministry of Agriculture asked the Ministry of Defense to assign a small military contingent (now numbering 68 soldiers) to the premises to provide security for the buildings and installations. The military also produce about 50 acres of rice each season, most of which is given to their superiors for consumption or sale to provide working capital for the next season's crop. With the absence of SOBERGUI, local villagers have also begun cultivating rice in small plots; most is for family consumption, but some is sold in local markets for cash.
In the mid-1980’s a Russian mining company sought to establish a large bauxite mine in the rich deposits in Guinea. In exchange for its mining concession and in recognition of the potential of this site to produce rice on a commercial basis, the Government of Guinea required the Russians to firstly perform large-scale civil engineering works and the construction of a farming/milling headquarters at Monchon. Extensive drainage and irrigation works were installed, as well as several commercial buildings, housing, and water and electricity infrastructure.
The lasting utility of these developments is a strong testament to the planning, wisdom, and skills of those Russian engineers. However, when these works were completed about 1987 and handed over to the Government of Guinea, there appeared to be neither a viable plan to make use of the property nor an entity capable of executing the plan even had one been conceived. The underutilized, newly-developed property languished for several years.
In December 1996 a government-owned Malaysian rice milling/trading corporation, Bernas, leased most of the property from the Government of Guinea and commenced commercial rice farming and milling operations at Monchon. In 2000, a small 2-mt/hour rice mill was installed inside a large building erected by the Russians over a decade earlier. A small collection of farm machinery was also delivered, little of which survives to this day.
Bernas enjoyed some financial support from the Malaysian government in undertaking the project. A nice plaque is affixed to the wall of the mill building stating the rice mill was dedicated by the Malaysian Minister of Agriculture. Guinea's President Conte himself later paid a personal visit to Bernas’ headquarters in Malaysia.
During this pre-Asian financial crisis timeframe, Malaysia aspired to be a first-world country. Undertaking this and other developmental projects, including operating several national phone companies in West Africa, was Malaysia's proof to the world that it had joined the ranks of highly developed countries.
I visited Bernas’s operation (SOBERGUI) on three occasions from 2000-2002. While the company presented itself in a very professional manner and operated the small rice mill quite ably, I was not impressed with the level of commitment being made to make the project a commercial success from a rice production perspective. The Malaysian staff were very cordial and conversant, but appeared to be poorly motivated to be rice farmers. The SOBERGUI staff admitted that their annual planted area to rice had fallen from an original 400 acres down to about 100 acres--far short of the vast potential of this expansive natural resource.
Following the June 2002 departure of SOBERGUI from Monchon, The Ministry of Agriculture asked the Ministry of Defense to assign a small military contingent (now numbering 68 soldiers) to the premises to provide security for the buildings and installations. The military also produce about 50 acres of rice each season, most of which is given to their superiors for consumption or sale to provide working capital for the next season's crop. With the absence of SOBERGUI, local villagers have also begun cultivating rice in small plots; most is for family consumption, but some is sold in local markets for cash.
Amerigui Plantation arrived on the site in May 2008 and has been warmly welcomed by local villagers. As the headquarters site was being reclaimed from years of neglect the villagers expressed their complete support for Amerigui Plantation and the promise of economic development that is sure to follow.
