Horticultural developments in west Africa

Press reports indicate growing levels of Malian exports of mangoes to Europe. This follows on from the implementation of targeted programmes of assistance aimed at ‘boosting the mango chain – building exporters’ capacity, improving quality of the mango fruits exported and increasing quantity of exports’. Since 2007, total exports of mangoes from Mali have increased from 4,000 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes. The minister for agriculture, Sidi Diaby, is attributing the increase to the national strategy contained in Mali’s Programme for Competitiveness and Agricultural Diversification: mangoes are ‘at the heart of a strategy to boost commercial agriculture through the improvement of the supply chains for mango, shea, gum arabic, banana, shallot and potatoes’.

Ghanaian tomato farmers, meanwhile, are reported to be dismayed at the bumper crop, with surplus production severely depressing prices. Farmers are now facing huge debts, after contracting loans to expand production and with the increased volumes resulting in a price collapse. Farmers are now letting tomatoes rot in the field, since it is no longer profitable to transport their product to market.