2023-11-02 23:19:23
In Senegal, we are drowning in mangoes. But tons of fruit are lost every year due to lack of local processing and lack of sufficient resources and infrastructure. A major agropole project might provide the beginnings of a solution.
From our special correspondent returning from Ziguinchor,
In the Siranding Touty Sané processing unit, near Ziguinchor, the mango season is coming to an end. On a table, thiakry, a millet flour flavored with mango, is drying. Here, the mango takes around ten different forms. “ We have jam, nectar, dried mango, mango mustard. We also make ketchup… », Lists Siranding.
Casamance is drowning in mangoes and represents more than half of national production. But every year, tons of fruit rot on the ground. “ There is no shortage of knowledge. There are quite a few women who are trained for transformation. But there is also a great lack of space for women to have units of reference. The few units that exist do not have enough equipment, because they are heavy and expensive. » The dryer that Siranding uses for his mangoes is old and only allows him to process 15 kilos per day.
A massive loss of production
In Bignona, the Economic Interest Group (EIG) Casaecology of Maimouna Sambou created in 2001 encounters similar difficulties. Its flagship product: mango pulp. This year, a customer asked for 50 tonnes. But she had to refuse due to lack of sufficient storage capacity. “ My seven freezers hold around three tonnes. I am capable of producing fifty tonnes more annually. To be able to do this, cold rooms or other freezers would be needed. », assure Maimouna.
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Processors also have problems selling their goods in a landlocked region, but also finding quality packaging or accessing financing. “ The interest rate is expensive. Second, when you apply for a loan, it drags. We grant you this when the products are finished », deplores Siranding Touty Sané. Just like Maimouna, they still depend a lot on foreign partners. The launch of five agropoles in the country might provide solutions.
The southern agropole to create synergy
In Casamance, there will be several consolidation modules and a large industrial processing platform for small producers and manufacturers. The objective: to encourage local processing to create added value and employment. “ It is really, in the agropole, to allow these processing units not necessarily to be obliged to relocate to the processing zones, but that they can establish business relationships with the industries or to factories, which will be located in these processing zones », explains Ousseynou Konaté, coordinator of the south agropole
Fifty-three billion CFA francs have been invested by the State for the South Agropole, which should be launched by June 2024, and should benefit 65,000 households.
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