ICoast urging change: cocoa pays but rice feeds the hungry Last year, Ivory Coast had to import 900,000 tonnes of rice in 2014 to satisfy domestic demand, despite a record harvest of 1.34 million tonnes. Now, the government wants to attain "rice self-sufficiency" by 2016, recalling food riots in 2008 amid sky-high prices for rice, milk, meat and fish -- all imported with duties exceeding 50 percent. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES