June 16, 2021

Healthy feeding of the Ivory Coast

Fresh Produce

Ivory Coast

Côte d'Ivoire is full of important production basins for the development of vegetable farming, but nowadays, the Ivorian vegetable market is still flooded with imported products. Passionate about entrepreneurship, Patricia Zoundi Yao created Canaan Land in 2015, with the aim of providing appropriate solutions to the pressing needs of the rural world, especially for women farmers.

Canaan Land is the result of a collection of real stories that the founder experienced while accompanying her husband who owned a rubber plantation in the Toumoudi area. These multiple stories are the very essence of this Abidjan-based start-up which, today, aims to enable women in rural areas to live with dignity from their profession as farmers.

On my way home, I used to pick up women coming from the market with their produce that they could not sell. One day, they had a lot of unsold tomatoes. When I dropped them off, one of them told me to go with the tomatoes and sell them. In a joking tone, I told them that they don't know who I am, and that I can run away with their money. They answered that they all know me well, because I pass by their way frequently. Then they allowed me to sell the tomatoes at a price that suited me. When I arrived in Abidjan, I published the products on social networks, and orders came from everywhere. So it was a lot of similar little stories that pushed me to set up Canaan Land.

Challenges at the source of fresh products

Canaan Land's mission is to create a link between the vegetable production basins in Côte d'Ivoire and the mass consumption areas, through a sustainable and inclusive agriculture model that benefits women. To achieve this, one of the first things is to make women understand and address a market that is increasingly demanding in terms of quality and consistency. This has not, until now, been easy for these women farmers who are used to traditional production and post-production activities. Patricia explained:

Our essential role is to facilitate access to the market for these women farmers, especially a market that they could not reach; because there were constraints that prevented them from having access to inputs and training to enable them to produce quality products in line with customer needs.

Although Canaan Land is a safe market for these women today, there are many challenges that hinder the momentum of collaboration between the company and the farmers. The business champion, Patricia, is thinking of quickly addressing these challenges, most of which are organizational. In this dimension, 2SCALE supports the company to strengthen the capacities of women on cooperative management. Patricia explained:

We used to work with a women's group in the past. As soon as we paid their first income, the group broke up; simply because it was not well organized. Bringing women together, training and supervising them was not our core business. So when we have a support partner in this context like 2SCALE that has a lot of expertise in these areas, for us it is a win-win partnership.

Mrs. Tola Aya Odette is President of the women's union of Attiégouakro, in the locality of Yamoussokoro. With nearly 2,500 women divided among 44 associations, their main activity was focused on cassava production. However, the cassava market is almost saturated in Côte d'Ivoire. The presence of Canaan Land in this area, through the 2SCALE partnership, led the women to turn to onion growing. One of the main sources of their motivation in this work is the guaranteed market that Canaan Land offers them. The president, Mrs. Aya Odette, explained:

When we have products and we know that there is a potential buyer, it makes us feel more secure, instead of working in a vacuum without being sure to sell afterwards. This year, Canaan Land asked us for 500 tons of onions. We will be able to supply this quantity, or even more, if it rains normally.

Despite the ambitions and good will of women, there is still a so-called generational challenge. Farming is very physical, while the average age of women farmers is around 50. There is no way to adapt to reduce the workload. At some point, it can impact their yields. To address this challenge, Canaan Land and 2SCALE will put more emphasis on youth inclusion in the partnership.

Inter-partnership networking

In its market development approach, 2SCALE promotes the creation of synergies between its business champions. Thus, as part of the partnership, Canaan Land was connected with other champions based in Mali and Burkina Faso. This networking allows them to share experiences and build business relationships. Also, as the production periods are not the same, these partnerships can be new outlets for their different farmers’ networks.

At the local level, 2SCALE has also linked CAP SIKAN and Canaan Land. Specialized in the production and marketing of fresh products, CAP SIKAN works with more than 1000 producers, mostly women, who cultivate about 350 hectares in the Ferkés-Sédougou area. The relationship between the two companies allowed Canaan Land to obtain onion supplies of about 7,000 kg during the shortage period. Patricia explained:

This connection by 2SCALE has allowed us to stabilize our production which was in a state of flux. We have markets, and these markets need to be supplied continuously.

Strengthening the loyalty of women farmers

The continuous supply of markets can only be achieved with committed farmers who are also loyal to their commitments. Canaan Land is already working on strengthening farmer loyalty. The company has its own tricks, including rewarding. As a little anecdote, Patricia said:

We organized an award ceremony where certificates were given. In the beginning, I was not convinced with the idea of giving certificates, because I did not see what it could mean for a woman farmer. But there was an old woman in her sixties who, when she received the certificate, took it with great honor. According to her, it was a physical recognition that she could show to the people of her village, and say that her effort was recognized in the presence of the local authorities. I was quite surprised to see that the certificate represented something grand.

The company also organizes a Christmas tree at the end of each year, an occasion to further motivate the farmers in their work. During this first ceremony, 200 women were awarded. In the following days, more than 2000 women registered to join the cooperative and produce onions.

Canaan Land is committed to continuing to build this relationship with the support of 2SCALE to develop a more sustainable loyalty system.

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