Through a $1.1 million co-investment grant from the USAID-funded West Africa Trade & Investment Hub (Trade Hub), Senegal-based agribusiness firm Agro Boye will increase its production capacity of horticultural products, helping to reduce food insecurity and import-dependency in the country.
The company’s three-year partnership with the Trade Hub builds on a successful pilot project that the agribusiness implemented in 2019 to boost its potato cultivation using 30 hectares of land. At that time, Agro Boye first invested around $260,000 and produced 900 metric tons of potato, generating $314,000 in revenue. The company will now leverage its Trade Hub grant and approximately $5 million of private capital to further increase its potato production, as well as the production of onions and tomatoes, through preparing and cultivating 240 hectares of virgin land.
“This partnership with the Trade Hub will help us solidify our role as an import-substitute of agricultural products and contribute to a national strategy of nutritional self-reliance,” said Birane Boye, CEO of Agro Boye.
By the project’s end in April 2024, Agro Boye expects this investment to bring its total production levels to 8,610 metric tons of potatoes, 720 metric tons of tomatoes, and 5,120 metric tons of onions.
Approximately 1,466 local jobs will be created through the increased production of Agro Boye’s crops, including for agricultural technicians, irrigators, farm machinery operators, and field workers. The majority of the positions will be allocated to women and youth, in line with both Agro Boye’s and the Trade Hub’s commitment to ensuring these two groups have increased access to agricultural opportunities.
The grant will also help Agro Boye double its storage capacity to 6,000 tons to minimize losses and waste from over-production, and help stabilize prices as the availability of produce is leveled throughout the year. To further support food security, Agro Boye, in partnership with local governments, will construct an eight-kilometer road to facilitate customers’ access to its production site and products. Sixteen neighboring communities will also benefit from this road’s construction, as it will make it easier for them to access local markets.
“Reducing West African countries’ dependence on agricultural imports is crucial to ensuring food security,” said Karl Littlejohn, Trade Hub’s Acting Chief of Party. “We are excited to partner with Agro Boye to boost both crop production in Senegal and communities’ access to horticultural products grown in the country.”
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