Friday, February 14, 2014

How pinapple business can lift up a whole region.

Africa is potentially one of the most promising market for the up-coming years. Swiss TV visited Swiss people working in Africa and benefiting from these emerging market. Find here the overview of the whole TV program.

One Swiss, lives in Ghana and produces pineapple. It shows the challenges of producing fruits for the international markets, but also how innovative creative ideas can be implemented. A biogas plant using the residue of the pineapples to get the energy for his drying plant.



Usually when investor come, local smallholders loose their market, and do not really benefit from the trade and export market. In Ghana this is different.  Maik Blaser, who operates the company contracts local farmers to produce for him : he gives out the pineapple plants and guarantees buying the produce for at a price that is fixed in advance (future contracts). In this way, smallholders can benefit the export market, make money and send their kids to school.

Finally, the plant is hiring many people offering decent wages outside of the primary sector...

Working in Africa is definitely not easy, but creative solution can really make a change... this is just another good example that no NGO is needed to support Africa...

1 comment:

  1. Agriculture always being a indispensable part of human progress. And it comes in play in a large number of ways. Rural developments programme always play a big role and this time, you gave message via pineapple.

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