The Ivory Coast: a visit to the Ivoire Organics Co-operative
In November the Ivoire Organics Co-operative received a visit from Germany. The managing director of BioTropic, Andree Mols, together with the BioTropic shareholders Meinrad Schmitt, Hubert Bois and Hermann Heldberg found out all about the people involved and their products on site. Kuemkwong Siemefo, manager of the BioTropic Africa-department, who built up the co-operative project was also there of course. They were accompanied by the managing director of Ivoire Organics, Paul Stephane Goa Pegnene.
The Co-operative has been supplying organic pineapples since it started up in 2008. Soon they started supplying mangoes, coconuts and cashew nuts as well. There are plans in hand to cultivate organic bananas.
The first destination of the group travelling out the Ivory Coast was Korhogo in the north of the Ivory Coast. Members of the co-operative are growing organic mangoes and cashew nuts there. Handling them and packing them in the newly constructed packing facility provides over 100 employees with a safe job and a regular income.
Making personal contacts is part and parcel of going away on a trip: when visiting a mango farmer in his house, the farmer's wife insisted on all the visitors staying for a meal. However the schedule for that day was already full and unfortunately this restricted the duration of the visit. The wife only allowed them to depart subject to the promise that they arrange to stay for a longer period of time on the occasion of their next visit and without further ado gave the group fresh food to take with them. The group of travellers departed with beans, yam roots and a live chicken.
From Korhogo they went cross country in a southerly direction to Bonoua, not far from the city Abidjan. Pineapples and coconuts are being grown here by Ivoire Organics.
The managing director of BioTropic, Andree Mols, who last visited the co-operative four years ago, is impressed by the agricultural expertise, "The farmers of Ivoire Organics work in a really professional manner. In recent years they have acquired a great deal of experience in organic farming and are applying their knowledge to suit local conditions."
You can see the results in pineapple fields themselves. From the outside you cannot see any differences between the plots, but the farmers know to one week exactly which pineapple plot will be the next to be ripe for harvesting. To achieve this, careful planning when growing and subsequently out in the field is absolutely essential. The farmers have planted beans and monkey nuts between the plots as an additional source of nitrogen for the soil. They can up use these crops themselves.
BioTropic Africa-manager Kuemkwong Siemefo adds this, "In comparison with 2008 there has been considerable growth. Admittedly there is a lengthy tradition of growing pineapple in the country, but growing to organically certified standards was something new. The farmers of the co-operative identify with their work and that motivates me as well."
If the political situation in the Ivory Coast was tense for a long time, it has in the meantime become quieter in the country. Admittedly there are still many checkpoints on the roads, but the money has been passing through local banks and ships have been berthing in port or sailing off out to sea for a long time now.
At present about 50 farmers are farming for BioTropic on approximately 70 hectares. In addition to this, there are several smallholders supplying the co-operative with organic pineapples from their smallholdings. At present BioTropic is supplied with coconuts and pineapples.
December 2013
The first destination of the group travelling out the Ivory Coast was Korhogo in the north of the Ivory Coast. Members of the co-operative are growing organic mangoes and cashew nuts there. Handling them and packing them in the newly constructed packing facility provides over 100 employees with a safe job and a regular income.
Making personal contacts is part and parcel of going away on a trip: when visiting a mango farmer in his house, the farmer's wife insisted on all the visitors staying for a meal. However the schedule for that day was already full and unfortunately this restricted the duration of the visit. The wife only allowed them to depart subject to the promise that they arrange to stay for a longer period of time on the occasion of their next visit and without further ado gave the group fresh food to take with them. The group of travellers departed with beans, yam roots and a live chicken.
From Korhogo they went cross country in a southerly direction to Bonoua, not far from the city Abidjan. Pineapples and coconuts are being grown here by Ivoire Organics.
The managing director of BioTropic, Andree Mols, who last visited the co-operative four years ago, is impressed by the agricultural expertise, "The farmers of Ivoire Organics work in a really professional manner. In recent years they have acquired a great deal of experience in organic farming and are applying their knowledge to suit local conditions."
You can see the results in pineapple fields themselves. From the outside you cannot see any differences between the plots, but the farmers know to one week exactly which pineapple plot will be the next to be ripe for harvesting. To achieve this, careful planning when growing and subsequently out in the field is absolutely essential. The farmers have planted beans and monkey nuts between the plots as an additional source of nitrogen for the soil. They can up use these crops themselves.
BioTropic Africa-manager Kuemkwong Siemefo adds this, "In comparison with 2008 there has been considerable growth. Admittedly there is a lengthy tradition of growing pineapple in the country, but growing to organically certified standards was something new. The farmers of the co-operative identify with their work and that motivates me as well."
If the political situation in the Ivory Coast was tense for a long time, it has in the meantime become quieter in the country. Admittedly there are still many checkpoints on the roads, but the money has been passing through local banks and ships have been berthing in port or sailing off out to sea for a long time now.
At present about 50 farmers are farming for BioTropic on approximately 70 hectares. In addition to this, there are several smallholders supplying the co-operative with organic pineapples from their smallholdings. At present BioTropic is supplied with coconuts and pineapples.
December 2013
Tags: Pineapple (GB), Andree Mols (GB), Bananas (GB), Beans (GB), Cashews (GB), Ivory Coast (GB), Peanuts (GB), Hubert Bois (GB), Ivoire Organics (GB), Coconut (GB), Kuemkwong Siemefo (GB), Mangos (GB), Stéphane Goa (GB), Yams (GB)
