Good winds are blowing over the mango industry in Côte d'Ivoire, as the growing phase is progressing comfortably, according to Joel Adjoka, CEO of Cofruibo & Mango Fresh.
Adjoka tells Freshplaza, "This year the weather is very good, with sufficient rainfall. We're hoping for more rain later on, but it's already raining 3 to 4 times a month and that's already good. Our mangoes have just passed the flowering stage in good conditions and we're continuing our operations comfortably."
Last year, the Côte d'Ivoire mango industry suffered from a lack of rainfall, which reduced yield by 30%." Despite this, we have kept the same acreage. We, therefore, expect volumes to increase by around 25-30% compared with last year," says Adjoka.
Côte d'Ivoire has been spared the fruit fly problem that is ravaging West Africa, adds Adjoka."Last year we escaped unscathed thanks to good farming operations and government support. Losses then were only 7-8% of volumes. That's what makes Côte d'Ivoire's production strong right now, at a time when this problem is putting producers in Mali and Senegal in such difficulty that the last campaign has come to an abrupt halt."
On the commercial front, Ivorian production is benefiting from the good timing of the season, adds Adjoka, "we start exporting a month after Peru exits the market, which allows us to export significant volumes to Europe." According to FAOSTAT figures, Côte d'Ivoire exported 180 thousand tonnes of mangoes in 2021.
"We're working to diversify our markets in tandem with the increase in acreage by 2025. With this in mind, we took part in Fruit Attraction in Madrid met with our existing customers, and succeeded in developing new prospects in Morocco and Spain," concludes Adjoka.
For more information:
Joel Adjoka
Cofruibo & Mango Fresh
Tel: +225 03 08 10 68
Email: [email protected]