Description
ID Bio is setting up an ecosystem for banana production, processing, and marketing with the provision of value-added services to meet organic production and fair trade requirements. ID Bio aggregates various services with a focus on smallholder farmers’ groups, cooperatives, local and international traders through establishing a partnership between productive upstream and commercial and industrial downstream. The company’s objective is to overcome the challenges related to various stakeholders in the banana value chain, including fragmented landholding.
Market Opportunity/ Problem
With changing role of agricultural services, there is a growing focus on smallholder farmers to raise incomes by linking to various types of markets, including informal domestic and international markets and higher value markets. Only 15-20% of the global production goes for export and generates around US$12 billion per year. Senegal is known as the “Gateway to Africa” and presents good conditions for the cultivation of organic bananas with its 9,000 farmers. The demand for bananas in Senegal is close to 45-50,000 tons each year, whereas the production is only 36,000 tons per year. Europe imports more than 6.5 million tons of bananas per year, of which 700,000 comes from Africa. Until recently, producers were not strongly motivated to supply banana niche national markets as they were not sufficiently remunerative for bananas sold in “bulk.”
Company Information
Years of operation
3
Type of organization
Private company
Stage of the business
Growth stage
Agribusiness focus
Value addition/ processing
Agriculture value chain(s) focus?
Cash Crops
Primary country of operation
Senegal
Other country(ies) of operation
West Africa subregion and Europe for export
How many employees does your business have?
10
Does the business have more than 30% women ownership?
Yes
Does the business have more than 30% youth ownership (under 35 years)?
Yes
Financing and expansion overview
How much capital is the company currently fundraising (US$)?
>1m
What is the split between equity and debt?
70% debt and 30% equity