Cover_Rebuilding West Africas Food Potential

334 Rebuilding West Africa’s food potential

which has a capacity of 40 tonnes of dried mango per season, and employs six permanent staff and 45

seasonal employees. The second business activity is to sell fresh fruit, mainly to exporters Fruiteq and

Burkinature (see also Figure 3).

Figure 3. Schematic overview of COOPAKE sales structure

COOPAKE does not have long-term formal contracts; however long-term relationships with their buyers

do exist. Prices for the certified products are mostly fixed; for conventional products conditions are

negotiated before the season.

The association has its own team of mango harvesters. One of the agents is responsible for taking stock

of the expected production and quality before the season. When harvesters pick the fruit (together

with the producer), COOPAKE agents present a voucher to the producer. Two weeks later the producer

comes to the COOPAKE office to receive payment. At times COOPAKE faces difficulties in paying the

farmers, since pre-financing from their buyers can be small or absent (depending on the negotiations it

can go up to 50 percent).

COOPAKE has received substantial external support from development organizations, World Bank

(subsidies through PAFASP), governmental structures (e.g. research and trainings by Institut National

pour l’Etude et la Recherche Agronomique (INERA), FAO (training on production practices), buyers

(e.g. hygiene during processing by Gebana) and certification bodies (ECOCERT for organic certification

requirements).

COOPAKE

Fruiteq Burkinature Gebana Afrique Burkinature

Cercle Des Secheurs

Fresh fruits

Export market

Dried mango

Export market

STGF

Fresh mango Dried mango

Farmers

Domesc

/regional

market

Local

/regional

market

Farmer

Group

Farmer

Group

Farmer

Group

Farmer

Group

Farmer

Group

Farmer

Group

Farmer

Group

3 %* 41% 55%1%

* = % of total fresh fruit yield