December 20, 2019

Supplying Bamako's market with local fresh vegetables

Fresh Produce

Mali

Following on from the success of an earlier pilot phase, 2SCALE will transform Service Commercial Sylvain (SCS) into a full and inclusive partnership in order to meet the growing demand for fresh vegetables in Mali. Currently the fresh vegetable market in Mali is booming, mainly due to rapid urbanization, population growth, and changing dietary habits.

On December 12th, 2019, an official signing ceremony of the partnership agreement took place at the premises of SCS, in the presence of the Ambassador of the Netherlands in Mali, His Excellency Jolke Oppewal, along with local authorities and farmers.

SCS is established exporter of mangoes from Mali to Europe. It sources locally from a network of small producers, in return providing them with a more secure market. SCS aims to reproduce the same business model for vegetable production, over the next five years. 2SCALE will support SCS in working with smallholder vegetable farmers and developing a more inclusive value chain. The partnership ensures that by 2023, the urban market of Bamako will be supplied annually with a total of 1000 tonnes of locally produced, healthy and fresh vegetables.

The Regional Director of IFDC, Dr Oumou Camara, in her speech, explained the various impacts of this partnership:

In addition to the objective of supplying the urban market of Bamako with fresh vegetables, this partnership aims at the same time to contribute to reaching 15,000 smallholder farmers including 75% women, 5,400 hectares in eco-efficient agricultural practices, 500 new agricultural and non-agricultural jobs, as well as better access to healthy vegetables for 15,000 low-income consumers

According to His Excellency Jolke Oppewal, the potential for economic growth lies in investment in the agricultural sector. He expressed his satisfaction with this partnership agreement between 2SCALE and SCS:

It’s extremely important to have this cooperation between the public and private sector in order to create jobs for women and young people and contribute to the economic growth

Vegetable production is often limited by a range of factors, such as the lack of professionalism of farmers, poor organization of the market, climatic constraints, access to water and limited means of production. Through this new partnership, 2SCALE and SCS will address these key challenges, ensuring that vegetable production becomes more competitive and increasing income-generating opportunities for farmers.

For more on this partnership, click here.

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