Organic crops join campaign to reduce rural poverty in Côte d’Ivoire

Agathe Vanie proudly looks at the products on the shelves of her shop, the first organic stall in the town of Divo, in south-central Côte d’Ivoire.

“We can make money,” she said.

A farmer by profession, Vanie is president of Walo, a non-profit organization she founded to bring together local women to grow and sell organic crops.

Eggplants, peanuts, peppers, turmeric and okra come from fields cultivated by some 2,000 women around Divo who have joined forces with Walo, which means “love” in the local Dida language.

And, even though vegetables are more expensive than conventionally grown plants, their organic status is attracting many customers – an important sign of the growing sensitivity to food quality in this West African country.

“The chemicals we use to spray the soil, the plants, the fruits, give us disease,” farmer Marie Michele Gbadjeli told AFP. “Since I discovered this store, I eat healthy food.”

The collective claims that customers are willing to pay more for organic products. By Issouf SANOGO (AFP)

Côte d’Ivoire’s main agricultural export is cocoa, with the country accounting for over 40 percent of the world market.

But a historic dependence on culture exacerbates rural poverty whenever prices plummet.

Vanie’s hope is that diversifying into cleaner crops will prove to be a more sustainable choice for their wallet and the environment.

“I brought the women together so that they could get into organic farming, first of all for their health, but also so that they could be independent, send their children to school and get out of poverty” , said Vanie.

“We will be able to earn money by turning to a crop other than cocoa, by growing food crops without chemical fertilizers,” she added.

In the green village of Boko, farmer Florence Goubo said she was involved in the project and had no regrets.

“We are no longer pumping chemicals into the fields. Switching to organic has changed our lives, ”explains the mother of five, a hoe in her hand.

“We can earn some money to take care of and educate our children.”

Peanuts, eggplants, peppers, turmeric, okra and chili are some of the products cultivated by the Walo collective. By Issouf SANOGO (AFP)

Suzanne N’Dri told AFP: “We were deceived with chemicals”.

N’Dri grows bananas, yams and cassava, and plans to add organic pig and goat feed to his production.

Growing organically means going back to many ancestral agricultural practices: clearing land, letting the leaves and grass rot and serving as natural fertilizer, and planting from the first rains.

But organic vegetables are more labor-intensive and time-consuming than produce grown with chemicals that artificially improve soil fertility or kill pests.

The quality and cost are reflected in the price difference. Walo’s organic products can in some cases sell for twice as much as conventional products: a packet of pepper that would normally be priced at 1,000 CFA francs (1.5 euros, $ 1.80) sells for 2,000 CFA francs. .

But Madeleine Zebo, president of an association of organic women farmers in Boko, said customers were not discouraged.

“We easily sell our peppers, eggplants, djoumgble (okra), honey, peanuts, taro root, tomatoes … at enviable prices”, explains Zebo.

Boko village chief Gbaza Zourhouri shared his enthusiasm and noted that children were not taken out of school to work in the fields.

“Women have my support and blessing. Before, all agricultural production was based on chemicals and phytosanitary concerns,” he said. “We were poisoned.”

According to the World Bank, 28% of the Ivorian population lives below the poverty line with less than 1000 FCFA per day.

The rate is even higher among the country’s rural population with some 60 percent of farmers living below the poverty line.

Organic food still has a long way to go in Africa before it gains the same recognition and popularity as in Europe and North America.

But initiatives like Walo that promote product traceability and quality are gaining ground. The way has been mapped out in the cocoa sector, where foreign brands are capitalizing on a demand for ethical products.

Walo wants to use his early successes to build a food processing plant – an initiative that would add value to local agriculture and create jobs – as well as a health center.