AFAWA and BuyFromWomen support women farmers.

In Côte d'Ivoire, Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) and the digital platform BuyFromWomen are revitalizing the activities of women farmers.

BuyFromWomen

The BuyFromWomen e-commerce platform allows farmers and members of women-led agricultural cooperatives in Côte d'Ivoire better access to local markets.

Brouz Jeannette Coffi, 54, lives with her seven children in the town of Toumodi, in the Aries region, 195 kilometers from the capital, Abidjan. Nurseryman and certified cassava producer for the last eight years, Jeannette is also president of a union of 60 cooperatives called “Les Moissonneurs”, with different sections in the villages of Toumodi.

As a farmer, Jeannette faces several difficulties, including acquiring equipment to harvest her produce, and selling her crops in local markets and supermarkets in the region and in Abidjan.

“Almost all sections of our cooperative members produce cassava”.

“The cassava is then transformed into attiéké [a variety of local couscous] and dried in the factory”.

“We sell in the local market, but with the supermarkets, they asked us for a certification that we couldn't afford because it was too expensive”, explains Jeannette.

In 2022, the BuyFromWomen project was implemented in the Toumodi region with the support of UN Women and thanks to funding from the Financial Initiative for Women Entrepreneurs (We-Fi) and the African Development Bank, through the Affirmative Financial Action for Women initiative. Women in Africa (AFAWA).

The BuyFromWomen e-commerce platform gives women farmers and members of women-led agricultural cooperatives in Côte d'Ivoire better access to local markets and, consequently, more sales of their agricultural produce at advantageous prices compared to other markets.

The formation

BuyFromWomen offers training to women farmers on entrepreneurship, literacy, cooperative management and digital tools. These trainings are aimed at leaders of women's cooperatives, who learn the essential skills to use the digital platform.

“Cooperatives are an important segment of female SMEs and when they are formal and structured, as is the case with Cooperativa Les Moissonneurs, they can raise more funding, significantly increase their production and access larger markets”.

Said Esther Dassanou, AFAWA Program Manager at the African Development Bank.

Jeannette and General Secretary Yao Adjoua Thérèse, both members of the cooperative, received training in management techniques and the use of digital technology to better sell their crops on the BuyfromWomen platform.

In turn, they trained the members of their cooperative, created a Facebook page and an email address, allowing all members to join the platform to sell their products on the Internet. The 60 BuyFromWomen co-ops that were trained were then organized into a networking group.

“After the training, we shared what we learned with women from other sections”.

“Now they have a better understanding of how to manage and run a cooperative”.

“As a result, they are more involved and see the cooperative as a common good”, said Jeannette.

The lack of knowledge of good production techniques and the lack of technical equipment was the cause of the low yield of their productions.

Since receiving training and starting to use more appropriate agricultural equipment and inputs, the women have managed to increase their yields from 5 to 8 tons per hectare, compared to the 20 tons expected in total for the next harvest.

“After the training, we obtained a loan of 30 million CFA francs [about US$45.000] which was reinvested to plant another 98 hectares of cassava in the different sections of our cooperative”.

“The Yavo cassava variety, which will be harvested and delivered in December, has an expected average yield of 20 tonnes per hectare”.

“With the loan, we were able to hire the tractor, work the soil better and respect the technical production itineraries”, said Jeannette proudly.

AFAWA

AFAWA has also integrated “financial inclusion” into the training program for women in cooperatives, a component provided by FINelle, a microfinance institution dedicated to the financial empowerment of women entrepreneurs.

“When women have access to finance, they can improve their performance and develop their communities”. “We are very proud of the achievements of the cooperative “Les moissonneurs”, said Dassanou.

Thanks to the BuyFromWomen project, the cooperative “les Moissonneurs” has doubled its production and tripled its annual turnover.

Last year, Jeannette's cooperative was able to sign the first contract to sell its entire cassava crop to a processing factory. Jeannette remains committed to developing the cooperative's business and income-generating activities to improve the status of women in Toumodi, her region.

According to statistics from the World Economic Forum, women produce more than 70% of food for domestic consumption and sale in local markets, so it is essential to ensure their financial inclusion and strengthen their capacity to develop their activities.

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Picture: © Stéphane Joel Dah