3700 Senegalese farmers join FAO organic/fair trade export project

by Chido Makunike

3700 Senegalese mango farmers are the latest members of a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)-organized project to encourage the export of organic and/or fair trade produce from Central and West Africa to Europe. Funded by the government of Germany, the FAO's Senegalese implementing partner is Agrecol-Afrique, an organization with many years of experience in training farmers in various aspects of sustainable agriculture.

Mango is an important dietary and export crop in Senegal. Many of the farmers have already been producing conventional mango for export as out-growers. With the signing on of Senegal early this year to the multi-country project, Agrecol-Afrique is now preparing them for organic production and fair trade. An Internal Control System (ICS) of organic standards is being employed and the plan is to export the first in-transition-to-organic crop towards the end of 2007.

The 3700 farmers are members of two farmer organizations in the Saint Louis area of northern Senegal, a fertile, growing export-horticulture area in the largely arid country. The current project areas cover a total of 50,000 mango trees, each of which is expected to produce 25 kilogrammes of produce per harvest.

Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana and Sierra Leone are the other countries involved in the project, with an emphasis on products with high demand in the European market, as well as with a good potential for high added value. Project partners are farmer groups, processors, exporters and importers, local NGOs, representatives from governments and the organic and fair trade movements. A participatory approach is being used and the project seeks to develop and strengthen long-term relationships between the African partners and importers in Europe.


www.freshplaza.com