Cadesa
CADESA: Cocoa Producer in Ivory Coast
Found along the Sassandra river in south west Ivory Coast is the Abedem region - home to a diverse landscape of tropical rainforests, savannas, hills and plateaus - and also CADESA (Coopérative Agricole pourle Développement de Sassandra), an exporting agricultural co-operative society established in 2003.
CADESA supports over 2,200 members with the collection and marketing of their products - 300 of which are women. Their main activity is the production, collection and export of cocoa beans, however they also grow coffee, cashews and rubber, all of which are cultivated on over 10,000 hectares of agricultural land
Pictured: Our Lending Manager for West Africa Divine Buo, with our Customer Representative for West Africa, Kwami Dekonor, meet with CADESA Executives.
Farmforce: A Force for Good
A Shared Interest customer since 2017, CADESA have used our support to construct a central warehouse, purchase two new tractors and one new truck, helping to transport cocoa to processing units. They have also used the finance to purchase more cocoa from their member.
CADESA are also acting on their slogan: ‘for tomorrow’s harvest, sow today’ by harnessing this technology to improve traceability in their supply chain. Esther explained that Farmforce helps CADESA to:
- Collect accurate and real time data directly from cocoa farmers, including farmer profiles and land sizes]
- Improve traceability by tracking the movement of cocoa beans from farm to warehouse
- Ensure transparency and verification of the bean origin and quality
- Facilitate digital payments to producers and farmers through mobile or bank transfer
- Reduce risks, inefficiencies and insecurities associated with cash transactions
- Manage inventory and stock levels by arranging logistics
- Provide analytical data insights and compile various reports, accounts and forecasts
Managing Director Esther N’goran (pictured right holding certifcate), said:
“Shared Interest started supporting us when we had no relationship with any other financial institution, it shows the confidence they had in us. Now a lot of other partners are chasing us up for collaboration every day.