From 20 to 24 June, Fair & Sustainable Consulting (F&S) gave a training in Kindia (Guinea) for all companies and organizations that are involved in the mango value chain. F&S was invited by the Belgian Development Agency (ENABEL) to give this training. The training is part of their Agricultural Entrepreneurship program, that aims to improve the competitiveness of entrepreneurs in the mango sector in an inclusive and sustainable way.
During the training, main
actors involved in the mango sector were trained to gain a common comprehension
of ways to analyse and develop the mango sector. The thirty training
participants were divided in three sub-groups who all focused on another
market: exports of fresh mango to neighbouring countries, exports of fresh
mango to the EU, and dried mango for the domestic market.
The three groups
mapped and analysed their value chain, defined a vision for development of
their chain, and identified priority actions to be implemented. At the end of
the week each group made an action plan with sustainable solution for the
development of the sector.
Trade fosters economic growth and creates employment. Export increase and diversification is, therefore, an important strategy for various African countries to create sustainable and inclusive economic development (UNCTAD, 2018). CBI, the center for the promotion of imports from developing countries, supports small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in these countries to expand their exports to Europe.
CBI
implements programs in sectors and value chains that have the potential for
more exports and meet European market demand. They do not only look at opportunities in
the European market but also at opportunities for reducing Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) risks. CBI:
offers export coaching programs to make SMEs in developing countries export ready;
provides technical support to business support organizations in developing countries to increase the added value for their exporting members;
involves importers in Europe in the development and implementation of our programs.
As a
consulting firm with a lot of experience in value chain selection, analysis and
development, Fair & Sustainable was hired by CBI to conduct a value
chain selection in five African countries: Egypt, Uganda, Kenya, Sierra Leone
and Guinea.
Leading
in this assignment was exploring a series of value chains with potential for
more exports to Europe; linking products produced in the five African countries
to the European market demand. This focus brings extra opportunities to make
the selected value chains more inclusive and fair as a growing number of
consumers in Europe, Africa’s main trade partner, buy organic and/or fair trade
products.
Value chain selection
Our value chain selection approach comprised of two phases. First, a long list of 5-7 value chains per country was made by exploring matches between promising value chains with potential European market demand. This list was based on desk research (e.g. statistics, reports, policy papers) and interviews with (CBI) experts. Inclusion criteria for value chains were the development of European demand, export potential, current production and exports, whether the value chain is mentioned as a priority in the National Export Strategy. Moreover, as CBI only works with SME exporters, it was checked whether these were present in the selected value chains.
Second, the five countries were visited for one
week each to gather additional information. In interviews and focus group
discussions with private and public actors obstacles and opportunities in the
value chain, CSR risks and potential cooperation partners (e.g. other donors,
export promotion agencies, the Netherlands Embassy) were discussed. Cooperation
partners are important for CBI. As they work with SMEs at the end of the value
chain (export), they can add value to programs of other donors who often focus
on the supply chain.
Based on the above results, Fair &
Sustainable filled CBI’s scoring tool, an Excel file with 30 weighted items
ranging from European demand, export potential, competitive advantages to
possible cooperation partners for CBI, CSR opportunities and CSR risks. This
generated the following shortlist of 1-3 value chains per country:
Egypt: apparel, home textiles, sustainable tourism
Uganda: tourism
Kenya: fresh fruit and vegetables (avocado), macadamia nuts, aquaculture (tilapia)
Sierra Leone: coffee, cashew nuts, tourism
Guinea: Fonio, coffee, cashew nuts
Business case
development
Based on the value chain selection, Fair &
Sustainable developed eight initial business cases ideas (iBCI) for a CBI
program. For the selected value chains in Egypt, Uganda and Kenya.
In one meeting per value chain, Fair &
Sustainable and CBI staff formulated ambitions and possible results for a CBI
program in that chain. Again, finding the right product-market combinations for
exports to the European market and opportunities to remove (CSR) obstacles were
leading. In addition, external experts were interviewed to provide input as
well.
CBI is currently in the process to decide which
iBCIs proceed to the next stage. In this phase, an in-depth value chain analysis
will be done on the value chain itself and the European market demand to revise
the business case and find partners for the implementation of the proposed CBI
program.
Cashew
nuts are very popular in western diets today, with everybody crazy about nuts. Cashews
are sold in almost every supermarket in Europe and the USA: salted or
non-salted, roasted or raw, as whole nuts, split nuts, or broken nuts. It is
consumed as a stand-alone snack, mixed with dried fruits and nuts, as part of
fruit and nut bars, as cashew paste, or as part of Asian dishes.
West
Africa plays a key role in cashew nut production but is not currently visible
in the consumer market. Only a minor fraction of the raw cashew nuts are
processed where they are harvested. About 90% of production is exported, mainly
to Vietnam and India, for cracking, peeling, conditioning, and packaging. From
there, the cashew travels to consumer markets for further processing according
to specific market and consumer needs.
What possibilities
are there for cashew processing in West
Africa to expand? Fair & Sustainable Consulting analyzed the value
chain for cashew processing in West Africa, on behalf of the Centre for the
Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI). CBI intends to develop a
support programme for local processing companies, especially in Côte d’Ivoire
and Benin. You can find the entire report here.
Conducted by Fair & Sustainable Consulting, funded by IDH and ICCO, and supported by FSI, BSR and EHPEA
At global level there is ample and increasing evidence that investing in the female workforce aligns well with business priorities, such as meeting productivity targets, maintaining a strong and stable workforce, increasing labor productivity, compliance with health and safety requirements, and improved worker engagement.
The question was whether such evidence could also be found in the Ethiopian floriculture sector, where gender interventions took place since 2014 by the Ethiopian Horticulture Producers and Exporters Association (EHPEA) and the Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), supported by IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative and the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI). Read more
Moringa is known as an easy growing multifunctional tree, one of the products being the leaves which provide for a rich nutritional supplement, and therefor the leaf powder is found amoung the so called super foods in high end Western markets, but also valued in the worldwide stride against malnutrition.
