Arlette Ophélia Koffi has the aspiration to be the top producer of Ganoderma mushrooms in Africa. She plans to launch her business following a period of incubation in the Enable Youth programme, funded in Côte d'Ivoire by the African Development Bank.
A 27-year-old graduate with a degree in business management specializing in entrepreneurship, Arlette Ophélia Koffi is currently putting the finishing touches to her business Ivoire Myciculture Distribution (IMD).
The start-up began to take shape when a friend pointed her towards the Youth Employment Agency (AEJ) Attached to the country's Ministry for Youth, the agency launched a campaign to recruit young people interested to work in agriculture.
"I heard about the Enable Youth programme through a friend. I went to the website immediately to apply and I was selected following an interview. And none of it cost me a penny," she recalls.
Thanks to the Enable Youth Côte d'Ivoire programme, which receives Ꞓ1.4 million in funding from the African Development Bank, Koffi underwent a six-month incubation period at the Higher School of Agronomy (ESA) in Yamoussoukro, the country's political capital. The incubation program offers an opportunity to develop advanced technical skills relating to the agricultural sector.
"After my baccalaureate, I completed an advanced technical diploma in management and a degree in entrepreneurship. I visited a number of agricultural production sites and that's when I decided on mushrooms, especially oyster mushrooms and ganoderma, a medicinal fungus," she explains.
In addition, she is planning to produce dried oyster mushrooms and combine the ganoderma fungi with natural local plants, such as savannah tea (lippia multiflora), citronella, mint, ginger, some turmeric and cinnamon.
"These are all medicinal plants, with benefits for our physical health. I'm really keen to promote African plants," she observes, explaining that she will first focus on the Ivorian and sub-regional market.
"Now that we're coming to the end of the incubation period, I'm developing my business and will then be the top industrial producer of ganoderma in Africa," she says.
Tanguy Kouakou, Ophélia's business partner, is a technical agricultural engineer, with six years' experience in the agribusiness sector. The Enable Youth Côte d'Ivoire programme has given him an opportunity to develop his own business and become an agricultural entrepreneur.
He is interested in producing oyster mushrooms commercially. They are "high in carbohydrates, protein and fibre, which are all found in the composition of various human organs. They also have significant benefits in preventing thromboses and strokes. Finally, they regulate blood pressure and blood sugar levels in the body," he explains. In the future, Kouakou wants to market tinned and fresh oyster mushrooms and stocks, which can be used to season meals.
"I worked in a business before I decided to set up on my own in the agricultural sector. And I want to encourage young people to go back to the land," he says. "The sector is a good source of jobs. To succeed, you need a novel idea and good training, and then you need to develop your business plan."
For the director of the Higher School of Agronomy in Yamoussoukro, the six-month training period should allow participants to develop the attitude of an agricultural entrepreneur and learn business management skills.
The Enable Youth Côte d'Ivoire programme aims to strengthen the capacity of young graduates to create businesses in agricultural value chains, in one of the top ten countries with the highest growth rates in recent years. The programme also encourages young graduates to return to the land. For instance, cocoa cultivation provides employment for up to two million people in Côte d'Ivoire, the world's largest producer.
Tanguy Kouakou, a technical agricultural engineer and Ophélia's business partner, is interested in the production of oyster mushrooms.
