Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : GlobalGAP certified helda beans (Senegal)

Pays : Senegal

Dates : Start date : 1 January 2013 // End date : 28 June 2018

Identification projet : NL-KVK-27378529-PSI12SN21

Programme : Private Sector Investment programme (PSI)

Présentation
The applicant, Bakker Barendrecht B.V. is the main supplier of fresh vegetables and fruits to Albert Heijn, and other AHOLD companies in Europe. For the supply of helda beans (snijboontjes or runner beans) Bakker Barendrecht is dependent on produce from Morocco and Spain. Because the Helda bean is sensitive to warm and cold, and Morocco and Spain have cold winters sometimes, the quality and quantity of beans from these countries is not always sufficient. Therefore, Bakker Barendrecht has explored possibilities to start production in Senegal. Local partner, Safina SARL, is a family owned company and produces (amongst others) French beans for Bakker Barendrecht / Albert Heijn. The partners have done successful tests on a small scale and results are promising. In European winters, there is a high demand and low supply of helda beans in the Netherlands. Therefore prices are relatively high in this period. The partners will form a joint venture to start producing helda beans for this period on the farm of Safina SARL, just outside Dakar. The beans will be cultivated in 20 modern plastic greenhouses of 1 ha each. The project will employ 162 people (partly part-time) and most seasonal (6 months per year). It is estimated that this corresponds with 69 FTE on annual basis. The operation will be BSCI and GlobalGAP certified. It is expected that other companies in the sector will follow producing these beans, after the pilot turns out to be successful. The project is also positive for Senegal’s negative trade balance, as the helda beans are cultivated for the export market.

Partenaire (s) : Safina SARL, Bakker Barendrecht B.V., Netherlands Enterprise Agency

Budget Total : €674,717

Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO)