Africa Journal (Washington, DC)
Laura Harrington
28 July 2007
Washington, DC — In the last 20 years Mali's exports of mangos to Europe declined under pressure from countries such as Peru and the CÔte d' Ivoire who have gained increased market share. However, today collaboration among many organizations is boosting Mali's mango export potential. Producers and exporters, the Malian government, development partners such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Dutch Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI), the World Bank, the Dutch government, and international supermarket chain Royal Dutch Ahold - all are playing a role.
During 2005, Ahold purchaser Bakker Barendrecht visited Mali for the first time, and the idea of test shipments supervised by Ahold staff developed. To ensure test shipments met Ahold's standards, Mali needed to meet two conditions. First, the mangos needed to be pre-cooled as Ahold purchases only mangos shipped via sea freight. At the time, pre-cooled mangos were impossible as Bamako lacked a proper conditioning and cooling station. Second, exporter cooperatives needed to be in an advanced stage of Euro-Retailer Produce Working Group's Good Agricultural Practices (EurepGAP) certification, which is adhered to by nearly all large supermarkets in Western Europe.
In 2006 Mali's potential to export on a large scale via sea increased significantly. The Malian government provided two hectares of land for the new conditioning/cooling station, Périmètre Logistique Aménagé en Zone Agricole (PLAZA), located in the industrial airport zone of Bamako.
The Dutch Embassy in Mali agreed to contribute one million euros to construct the station.
Previously Malian exporters relied on air shipments of one to two tons, considerably smaller than the minimum 20-ton containers used for sea shipments. Air shipments are substantially cheaper to finance and much easier to organize logistically. For example, harvesting the increased tonnage (that is, one ton for air versus 20 tons for sea) of mangos in one day, additional conditioning standards, and an additional 12 hours to pre-cool the mangos increase the complexity of orchestrating a sea shipment.
USAID, the World Bank, and CBI began to help Malian producers and exporters to improve their ability to respond to market demand. Mango exporters in Mali had previously been supply-oriented. They were slow to respond to new market requirements for quality. These international development agencies have focused on improving quality standards, orchard maintenance, post-harvest handling including identifying suppliers of harvest crates and shipping carton packaging, sorting and grading, certification, and developing a national traceability system.
They have also provided organizational development support to exporters, consolidators, and producers, who had to form legal cooperative entities as part of the certification process. Thus far one exporter in Mali is EurepGAP-certified and five more are in the final stages of certification.
With Mali now meeting the two pre-conditions, Ahold is conducting test shipments for 200 tons (ten containers) of mangos for a minimum 2.5 euros per 4kg carton during the 2007 mango campaign (approximately April through June). To help ensure successful shipments, Ahold has contributed to this venture. Its logistical manager facilitated the transport arrangement, and its pack house manager is overseeing work at the PLAZA for mango grading, conditioning, cooling, and packing. In addition Ahold's pack house manager is mentoring Malian pack house managers and workers during this three-month shipping season.
Though early in the process, the outlook for mass export of Mali mangos is positive. Three of the ten containers have been shipped for their approximately 13-day journey to the Netherlands and one has arrived. Two of the first three exporters who shipped their produce have achieved a 93% acceptance rate at the pack house. Mali is on its way to providing mangos for one of the largest supermarket chains in Europe and the U.S., and may soon be exporting other tropical fruits and horticulture products from the PLAZA.
Laura Harrington is an International Development Specialist with Chemonics International in Washington, D.C. www.chemonics.com
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