Agriculture seeks $4bn to reap potential

Blessed with fertile tropical lands, remarkably consistent temperatures and bountiful rainfall, Côte d’Ivoire produces an abundance of world-class goods. For decades, cash crops helped put food on the table for millions of Ivoirians, raising living standards while transforming its economy. A vibrant agricultural sector propelled Côte d’Ivoire through decades of growth and progress, but while nature provided the backdrop for this success, the “Ivoirian Miracle” is a testament to years of investment and smart management. Today, policymakers in the world’s top exporter of cocoa and cashew nuts look to innovative partnerships to provide the next generation of development. 
 

“President Ouattara wants to reinvest in this sector, but this time he believes that the investment should be based primarily in the private sector,” says Minister of Agriculture Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly. “The role of the state is to create a business-friendly environment, which is why we are investing in infrastructure and governance. The private sector will invest in production, transformation and marketing and sales,” adds Mr Coulibaly, who is particularly keen to attract British investors. 
 

The Ouattara administration has made improving the ability for entrepreneurs and outside investors to participate a chief priority. According to the World Bank’s Doing Business 2014 report, Côte d’Ivoire ranks among the countries that implemented the highest number of reforms in the two prior years. 
 

Hoping to capitalise on this new openness, the Ministry of Agriculture set an aggressive target growth rate of 9 per cent by 2015, and has evaluated the investment needs at $4 billion. They expect 60 per cent of this to come from outside the government. Mr Coulibaly would like to tap into British expertise in the export of finished products, an area that he says could add tremendous value to its existing harvests.  

“We are very careful to balance the development of cash crops with the need to develop food crops, as well” Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly, Minister of Agriculture

 As in the past, Côte d’Ivoire’s leaders look to agriculture as the engine of prosperity and modernisation. “The objective is to generate 2.4 million jobs and to get some 6-7 million people out of poverty,” according to Mr Coulibaly. However, much of the country’s past success in this area cannot simply be repeated, which is why the government has brought in experts from the World Bank to help implement a forward-looking e-agriculture programme. 
 

“This will allow all stakeholders, in particular producers, to access information in real time,” Mr Coulibaly explains. “We are also planning to create an agricultural commodities market in order to reduce the number of intermediaries and thus guarantee higher revenue for farmers.

Our aim is to increase by 70 per cent the added value that they receive.”

Efforts have also been made to streamline government bureaucracy. Concerning the all-important cocoa sector, which employs 900,000 farmers and provides a living to some 8 million people, the government has set up a single governing body when previously half a dozen agencies were involved. “This will reduce operating costs and bring more transparency,” says the minister. 
 

Côte d’Ivoire invests heavily to stay at the cutting edge of development. Its National Centre for Agricultural Research (CNRA) employs hundreds of scientists, accounting for two-thirds of the country’s research capacity, and over three-quarters of its R&D investments in agriculture. 
 

“Production goals and self sufficiency can be obtained provided that we develop the necessary technologies and, above all, high performing crop varieties, which is what we are capable of,” says Director General Wongbé Yté. “My ambition is to ensure that we maintain these results and the level of contribution to the development of the Ivoirian culture, and that we go ahead with the new challenges of climate change and the fight against poverty.” 
 

Mr Yté and his team will be at the forefront as Côte d’Ivoire seeks to diversify its potent mix of agribusinesses. “We develop the technologies that will enable us to process a larger part of our crops,” he says. “There are significant investment opportunities in processing; not only the processing of semi-finished products but also the finished products, to making cocoa into chocolate and chocolate products, for both the Ivoirian market and the surrounding markets as well.”

It is hard to overstate the importance of cocoa in the small West African nation that accounts for more than 40 per cent of worldwide exports. That is why the government created a national Coffee and Cocoa Board (CCC) as one of its first initiatives. “The head of state got involved to assure that, concerning sales, the producer receives 60 per cent of the price obtained on the international market,” explains CCC’s Chairman Lambert Kouassi Konan. 
 

This board’s pricing scheme cuts down on the role of middlemen, shields farmers from short-term fluctuations and gives them more financial stability so they can invest in their cocoa plantations. “Everyone agrees that this quality control raised the appeal of the Côte d’Ivoire label,” according to Mr Konan.
 

Guaranteeing fair revenue for producers was the number one priority of the government when it took power in 2011. Now that the system has proved to work, authorities set their sights on boosting investment in production and processing. 
 

“We want to ensure that cocoa production is sustainable, and processing is an important part of our strategy,” explains Mr Konan. 
 

As China pulls the world’s growing appetite for chocolate – Chinese consumption increases by a staggering 15 to 25 per cent a year – Asia is becoming a serious contender both in production and processing. “Currently, we process roughly 30 per cent of our production. Our objective is to reach 50 per cent in the short or medium term,” adds Mr Konan. 
 

“Now, we’re preoccupied with unleashing investments at the processing phase as well as in production. And in this area, there is plenty of room for all the investors who would like to come invest.”