In 1999, gebana ag was looking for dried fruit suitable for the production of organic&fair chocolate bars. The complex local structures led gebana ag to appoint a member of staff on-site who could guarantee direct contact with producers and dryers. gebana's involvement has intensified in the following years due to new products and a steady increase in general volume. In 2005, gebana ag co-founded gebana Afrique with local members of staff.

gebana Afrique has been able to intensify cooperation with its partners in Burkina Faso and Togo and to open its own warehouse with cold storage in Ouagadougou. Further achievements of the partnership have been the successful FLO certification, an HACCP system as well as the installation of a cashew processing plant.

A major challenge for the future lies in financing the greatly increasing sales volumes. However, the greatest challenges gebana ag faces in West Africa's difficult environment are quality assurance and the ever increasing demands of buyers. For that reason, the development of suitable systems to avoid pest damage (CO2 treatment) and sound training of employees is a high priority for gebana. Finally, finding ways to implement fair trade within West Africa's structures, with its multitude of loosely organised producers, presents an ongoing task. gebana ag works with cooperatives comprising a network of around 10,000 farmers!