Mangosector Côte d'Ivoire
Irene Koomen, a senior advisor in adaptive agriculture at Wageningen University & Research, has recently concluded a four-and-a-half-year initiative in Côte d'Ivoire's horticulture sector, with a particular focus on the mango industry. Funded by the Dutch government and aimed at facilitating innovation and empowering local producers, the program sought to enhance production practices, improve quality, and strengthen market access for both domestic and export purposes, integrating a systemic approach that extends beyond production to encompass marketing, processing, and regulatory frameworks.
When did Wageningen University start working in Côte d'Ivoire on sustainability issues in the horticultural sector?
I will talk of the HortiFresh program only as the University is quite large with 6,000 colleagues. The horticulture project started in 2018 in Côte d’Ivoire and we just closed it last year. It ran for four and a half years and to my knowledge, it was the first and only horticulture project my colleagues and I were involved with in Côte d‘Ivoire
What led you in 2018 to undergo this project in Côte d’Ivoire?
The Netherlands Embassy had a program in Accra, in Ghana. We worked for four and a half years on vegetables in Accra. The project was extended for another four years but at the condition that we would also include fruits in Ghana alongside vegetables and that we would expand to Côte d’Ivoire in fruit. This was not done by the Embassy in Abidjan because it was just reopening then, but from the Embassy in Accra.
So, we are both in the fruit and vegetable sector in Ghana, and just in the fruit sector in Côte d’Ivoire.
What research partner did you work with in Côte d’Ivoire?
We didn’t quite have a research partner but a local coordinator, Moussa Coulibaly, who was based at the Solidaridad West Africa office in Abidjan. We also had one young Dutch woman in the Young Expert Programmes (YEP Programmes) for two years.
We worked with multiple partners, the private sector, the Ministry of Agriculture, we hired consultants from the University to do studies, but we did not have a dedicated partner. We worked with the mango private sector mostly.
What specific projects did you work on or are you working on?
The program ended in the middle of last year, in May 2022. Both embassies decided not to continue as it was not the priority any longer of the Netherland government. There is no crowdfunding anymore at the Embassy in Abidjan for this type of project. The horticulture project was part of the food security agenda of the Netherlands government for both Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana and there was no financing available to continue the project.
What did you work on during these four years?
We worked on different items. We had a fund to promote innovation by private sector players, companies that were already in Côte d‘Ivoire or ready to step in. They tried new methods in the fruit sector, whether it be irrigation, quality control and even financing by setting up crowdfunding: the companies chipped in kind and cash and the project funded 50% as seed money for high-risk ideas. We also had a youth fund, supporting young entrepreneurs.
We focussed on the mango sector as we considered it as a good product to improve the income of farmers. We worked in two clusters. The mango cluster in the North dealt with farmers cooperatives to improve production, the quality of the fruits and the marketing. We trained to pruning properly, reduce pesticide use and, overall, good cultural practices so as to have more sustainable farming. In the long term, we worked with partners so that they would take over the training and support of the sector at the end of the project.
The second was a peri-urban cluster which supported the Coopérative des Vendeuses de Fruits Ivoire Rungis (CVFIR), an association of women fresh fruit vendors based in Abidjan.
It remains to be seen what comes out of all this. The quality improved in the farms we worked with but it remains to be seen if it will continue. I must say that four and a half years is quite short for a project. We noticed that in Ghana, where the project lasted nine years, it really worked but you need to build trust with dedicated partners and see how they would take over the project.
Was the project aimed mainly at the export market or the local and regional markets?
It was a combination. Countries generally focus on export because it generates forex. But we did look into extending it to the domestic market for women groups. We also looked at input supply and local companies that would market inputs for the agri-food sector. With the innovation fund, they looked into the irrigation market, quality and advisory systems and that is also domestic.
In Ghana, we found that in the domestic market, it was much easier to initiate a change than on the export market. The Dutch Embassy focusses on Dutch companies and we had a couple of European trade missions in West Africa. But they expect a consistent quantity and quality and many fruit farms in both Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire are not large enough to deliver. Also, it takes more time for both parties to understand each other and what is expected on a foreign market. There is often a misunderstanding between importing and exporting actors.
Did you work with any certification agent in the mango sector?
It was not our major aim. Our aim was more to increase production, have good cultural practices, etc. The mango farms are mostly off-hand farming, managed at distance with the owner of the orchard living in Abidjan and people who live near the farm managing it. Its not really a farm-owner managed farm. He goes on the farm when it is harvest time so as to get a good price for the mango in the peak season. After harvest, the farm is more or less closed.
There needs to have some mind et changes because a mango producing farm needs to be managed all year round and not only at harvest time.
What was the total budget of this four year and a half program?
It is very difficult to distinguish between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire because we split activities. The total budget for Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire was 9 million euros and I would say around 15% of the total budget was specifically for Côte d’Ivoire.
What lessons can be learnt from this project?
We often talk about sector transformation in horticulture but it needs to be a holistic approach. You can look at production only. But if you don’t look at the marketing, processing, regulatory aspect, it is probably not going to work.
For example, we worked with a group of women near the harbor in Abidjan who work in the fruit sector. They process fruit juices and are linked to a juice factory. We worked with them on safe handling practices with hygienic standards. It was all about how to empower these women and lead them to be more professional.
Compared to other institutions, what does Wageningen University bring?
We use a system approach, rightly or wrongly. We can see where the weak points are and where the opportunities lay. We take innovative technology and information from the more academic side and we translate it into more practical knowledge. We also focus on documentation and learning.
This is one of several articles written for the SARA 2023 and also available french