The TRANSFORM Project – Structure agri-food sectors to offer farmers new openings

In Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire, the agricultural and agri-food sectors suffer from a lack of structure and jobs are often insecure. Yet the urban food market is booming.

The TRANSFORM project is developing an innovative approach to supporting farmers and agri-food enterprises. Since 2015, it has participated in the structuring of local agri-food processing enterprises in Cameroon and Ivory Coast in order to ensure an impact on the entire value chain by supporting three types of players in the agri-food sector: farmers, small and medium agri-food enterprises (SMAE) and very small agri-food enterprises (VSAE). These entrepreneurs benefit from training in techniques (processing, hygiene standards, product packaging, etc,), and management, followed by personalized support to help them launch and develop their activity. TRANSFORM acts as a business incubator and growth accelerator for the network’s enterprises.

In each country, centres have been built and equipped in order to provide a range of services: supply platform for agricultural raw materials, agri-food product development laboratory, production workshop available to rent on a daily basis.

TRANSFORM relies on strong partnerships with the associations Cameroun Entreprise Développement and Côte d’Ivoire Entreprise Développement, which are essential for the financial, operational and institutional sustainability of the TRANSFORM centres. CED and CIED are now recognised as effective players in supporting SMEs in the agricultural and agri-food sectors.