2024-07-03 22:25:14
The mango marketing season is coming to an end in Ivory Coast, a country that produces 150,000 tons of fresh mangoes. To add value to the sector and reduce producers’ losses, fruit production is an opportunity. But despite the power, this option is still limited and little used.
From our special correspondent in Ferkessédougou,
In a small factory located in the suburbs of Ouangolodougou, 20 tons of fresh mangoes is transported every day at peak time on tricycles by the producers in the region. Mangoes are sorted, washed, then processed to meet the health requirements of consumers.
« We remove waste, everything that is not good. There is the end and the demand of the customer that asks”I want this or that size”, explained Sita Coulibaly who oversees the rehabilitation room. So, we just depend on that. And after sorting, we put them in bags, weigh them and put them in boxes. And we send it to the customer. »
This small company focuses on exporting to Ghana, then Europe in the second phase. Because according to Bazoumana Ouattara, director of the Ouangolodougou mango drying industry, the domestic market has not yet received this product. ” In Ivory Coast, there is no markethe explained. Ivorians do not know dried mangoes. Neither are the supermarkets. My clients are in Ghana, HPW. We have a loyal customer and, whatever the situation, only the order will be different. In the year when the production is good, they have a large quantity. And when it goes down, the quantity becomes thin in their level. »
Be productive and make a difference
For this entrepreneur, one of the problems is the maintenance of machines which, for the most part, are exported. ” When a part breaks, there is no replacement here, regrets Bazouma Ouattara. You can’t buy it here : we do not have a parts store in Ivory Coast. We had to order it in South Africa, and the part arrived by DHL. So, it’s complicated. »
The sales period is short: it takes three months. It is therefore not easy to invest in the box mangoes. To get around this obstacle, René Yéo, director of the fruit company Ivoire Bio, decided to diversify his activities within his company.
« You need several devices at the same time that can have a large capacity, in less than three months, to be able to recover your money.you calculate. At the level of Ivoire fruits, we plan to diversify our system by expanding it to other tropical fruits such as coconut and pineapple. » This manager of the inter-mango project also recommends state support for private companies in order to further develop the production of this sector.
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