Delivering Improved Seeds to Smallholder farmers in Mali Wins Mme Coulibaly Prestigious African Business Award in London
For more information contact:
Stella Kihara: +254 735 380 199
Anne Mureithi: +254 721 318 214
amureithi@agra-alliance.org
London (22nd June 2010) – Madame Coulibaly, a seed company owner who is supported by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to distribute improved seed varieties to farmers in Mali, was honored last night at the International African Business Magazine awards ceremony for using innovative business strategies that are helping eliminate poverty and hunger among smallholder farmers.
In a business environment that shuns smallholder agricultural related business and against many other odds, Mme Coulibaly started Faso Kaba in response to the smallholder farmers’ need for improved seeds. “Having been brought up in a smallholder farming community, I knew that the plight of farmers in Mali and other parts of Africa would only change if they used better quality seed to increase their yields for food and incomes” said Mme Coulibaly.
Her business philosophy is to use seed as a strategic input to achieve food security and poverty reduction in Mali and throughout West Africa. It was not lost to her that most food producers and her potential customers are poor, cash scarce, small scale farmers, producing several basic food crops like maize, sorghum, rice, millet, beans, cowpea, and ground nut.
“We are excited that Coulibaly’s efforts of transforming the economies of smallholder farmers in Mali have caught the attention of organisers of this prestigious award and rewarded her entrepreneurial excellence among other world-class best practices in business” said Mr Kofi Annan, Chairman of AGRA.
Now in its third year, the African Business Awards is the key annual event for the African business world and its accolades are much sort after by Africa’s leading companies and entrepreneurs. Organized by IC Publications, publishers of African Business magazine, and the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC), the African Business Awards has become a platform to celebrate excellence and best practices in African business and recognizes those who have driven Africa’s rapidly transforming economy.
Madame Coulibaly was honored at the event which brings together high-level business leaders, African head of states, international government representatives, diplomats, members of the international press as well as delegates of the Annual G8 African business forum, giving her African brand – Faso Kaba - great opportunity for global visibility for its unique customer centered business model.
Mme Coulibaly’s Business Strategy
Farmers in Mali are generally cash scarce and so her business strategies include; selling seed of the main crops grown by most farmers, pricing the seed as modestly as possible, providing seed in various package sizes - 1, 2, 5 and 20kgs since her clientele cannot afford larger volumes and making the seed available near farmers through expanding her retailing network, which to date includes up to 150 resellers.
Not one to sit and wait for customers, her company also uses a small van to travel around the countryside on market days to promote and sell certified seeds. The company also uses farmers’ fields to demonstrate the results of using certified seeds. This approached, combined with the use of vernacular radio and television creates a forum for dialogue with farmers around the new technologies.
With support from AGRA, Mme Coulibaly has grown the company from modest beginnings in 2005 to a firm with 2 retail outlets, 150 resellers, 20 certified seed producers, 6 full-time and 30 part-time employees selling 300 tons of seeds and supplies 35-40% of the private certified seed market in Mali.
####
About the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
AGRA is a dynamic partnership working across the African continent to help millions of small-scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger. AGRA programmes develop practical solutions to significantly boost farm productivity and incomes for the poor while safeguarding the environment. AGRA advocates for policies that support its work across all key aspects of the African agricultural value chain from seeds, soil health and water to markets and agricultural education.
AGRA's Board of Directors is chaired by Kofi A Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations. Dr Namanga Ngongi, former Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme, is AGRA's president. With support from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK's Department for International Development and other donors, AGRA works across sub-Saharan Africa and maintains offices in Nairobi, Kenya, and Accra, Ghana.