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La Belle Usine – our factory in Burkina Faso
At our factory near Bobo-Dioulasso, we process all the cashews and dried mangos sold in the gebana shop. By processing these products locally, we create jobs and generate value for the local community – whilst accepting numerous risks.
EMPLOYEES: 788
SUPPLYING FAMILY FARMERS: 5572
CASHEWS PROCESSED/DAY: 15 t (target: 30 t)
MANGOS PROCESSED/DAY: 15 t (target: 40 t)
TOTAL INVESTMENT: 15 million euros
CONSTRUCTION PERIOD: 3 years
SURFACE AREA: 12'000 ㎡
How gebana operates in Burkina Faso
Our new factory enables us to work with even more family farmers and offer them a long-term income. In addition to the organic and Fairtrade price, they receive 10 per cent of the retail price of their products from our online shop as part of our gebana model. We also support family farmers by providing training in sustainable farming methods and supplying them with agricultural tools.
Furthermore, by processing the crops directly on site, we ensure that more value is retained within the country and create jobs, increasingly for relatively highly qualified people. This is anything but a given: around 90 per cent of cashew nuts from West Africa are still transported to Asia for cracking. Our factory is therefore a key driver for the local economy. And we are getting closer to our goal of doubling our impact in the coming years.
Why does gebana invest where no one else does?
Burkina Faso is marked by political instability. The West African country has experienced several military coups in recent years. At the same time, terrorist groups threaten the local population. Hardly any Western companies invest in long-term projects in the country.
Despite all these challenges, we have been successfully operating in Burkina Faso through a subsidiary for over 20 years. The number of employees and the family farmers who supply us with mangos and cashews has risen steadily over this period. So much so that our old processing plant in Bobo-Dioulasso soon became too small for our operations.
Delivered directly from La Belle Usine
All cashews and dried mangos in our shop come from our factory in Burkina Faso. They are never repackaged on their way to Europe.
Why did it take so long to build our new factory?
We had never undertaken a construction project of this scale before, let alone in West Africa. Building up the necessary expertise in a short amount of time and finding qualified people to turn our vision into reality was a major challenge.
Administrative processes that dragged on for months caused constant delays. The two military coups in 2022 meant that we had to wait over a year for our building permit.
Added to this were problems caused by the lack of local infrastructure. Ensuring a reliable supply of water and electricity remains a challenge to this day.
Furthermore, the weather conditions repeatedly threw a spanner in the works. For instance, preparing the site took significantly longer than expected due to the rainy season. Because of these numerous hurdles, the construction process took over three years.
Even after the factory opens, new challenges will continue to await us. Now we must prove that we can actually achieve the high production targets we have set ourselves. And we need enough major clients to take these new volumes off our hands.
Despite all these uncertainties and hurdles, we are convinced that our investment on the ground will pay off. Only by taking risks can we make a lasting difference!
How it all began: Our Walls Against Walls crowdfunding campaign
In 2021, our plan for a new, larger processing plant in Burkina Faso took shape. Through the crowdfunding project Walls Against Walls, we raised over 900,000 euros for construction, with more than 2,000 people supporting the project with a donation.
As the name of our crowdfunding campaign Walls Against Walls suggested, the wall around the factory site was not meant to divide, but to unite. By the end of 2024, we had put this into practice: 20 local artists have left their mark on the wall with their artwork.
With the start-up capital from the crowdfunding campaign, we were able to turn our vision into reality. We are still thrilled that so many people believed in our project right from the start.
One of the donors for our project is EDFI AgriFI. This is an impact investment facility funded by the European Union, managed by EDFI Management Company, with a mandate to provide medium to long-term financing to private sector enterprises active in the agri-food value chain with a focus on smallholder farmers.
Our project is also supported by The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries, BIO. This is a development finance institution established in 2001 by the Belgian development cooperation to support private sector growth in Africa, Asia & Latin America. BIO provides long-term financing to enterprises, the financial sector, and private infrastructure projects, as well as grants for feasibility studies and technical assistance programmes. BIO invests in projects targeting both high and sustainable development impact, and a modest financial return. BIO is a member of EDFI.