2SCALE Thematic Papers Not By Technology and Money Alone | Page 10

the Atlantic Region of Benin. Pineapple, vegetables, cas-
sava, maize or soya offer other possibilities, but they do
not have the same potential. Yet, through the support of the
2SCALE project, we chose to focus on soya beans. As the
coordinator of the Regional Union of Producers in the Atlan-
tique and Littoral areas (URP-AL), I saw in 2SCALE an op-
portunity to make a difference to the URP’s members as it
focuses on strengthening the relations between producers,
their clients and their suppliers. Value is added through all
the links in the chain and all the actors involved benefit from
the gains. contracting procedures, collective selling and stock man-
agement. Together, the soya producers and CTAE listed a
set of quality specifications for soya requested by CTAE.
When the quality requirements are respected, the contract
will grant the producer a bonus of 25 CFA francs (about
€0.04) per kg beyond the market price. The Atlantique POs
are now able to provide enough soya of good quality at a
price they find acceptable. CTAE is happy with this agree-
ment, as the quality of the soya-based products it puts on
the market has increased highly, thereby further increasing
the demand.
Through 2SCALE, the URP initiated a partnership with
CTAE, a local cooperative enterprise that processes soya
beans. You may ask: Why was CTAE interested in linking
with the farmers? After all, establishing relationships takes
time and energy and the results are often rather unpredic-
table. Better quality, better business relationships
Solving the issue of poor quality
In fact, CTAE was facing the problem of low quality raw
material. The bags of soya delivered by the traders in the
market of Glazoué often contained chaff, sand and not fully
dry grains that turned black. The poor quality of the raw ma-
terial not only affected the quality of the processed products
CTAE was putting on the market, but it also reduced the
cooperative’s turnover while also damaging its equipment.
With such a poor supply base, buyers have l