IICD supported project: ICT for shea butter producers

Countries: Mali [ML]
Sectors: livelihoods

Summary

The aim of the project is to promote shea butter while at the same time increasing the turnover of the Zantiébougou Women Shea Butter Producers Cooperative (COPROKAZAN) through the use of NICT. To achieve this goal, the project calls for the installation of lighting and computers, training of women in the use of standard software and office automation tools, installation of e-mail, creation of a website, and advertising on radio and television.

Update

Updated: 2008-02-04

Last year saw a number of events and achievements related to this project. These include: validation of the project concept by all parties involved in the project, participation of resource persons from AMPJ and COPROKAZAN at all stages of project formulation, signature of the project financing protocol, and the first steps towards making the project operational, such as installation of the power source and the computers.

Introduction

This project arose out of the partnership formed between the Malian Association for the Promotion of Youth (AMPJ) and COPROKAZAN to seek solutions to the problems of marketing shea butter. It was an initiative taken by these two organisations to facilitate sales of shea butter at the national, regional and international levels. It makes a real contribution to economic, social and political development, as its end purpose is to develop the market for COPROKAZAN’s shea butter and, in so doing, to improve the living conditions of its members.

Objectives

The objectives of the "Kari & ICT" project are as follows:

- To step up communication between COPROKAZAN and AMPJ,

- To identify and compile a directory of shea butter buyers,

- To computerise COPROKAZAN's accounting system,

- To inform the public about the virtues of shea butter,

- To increase awareness of COPROKAZAN,

- To win over new customers for shea butter,

- To disseminate information on COPROKAZAN products with an eye to increasing sales.

Development Impacts

The end users and beneficiaries are:

- Customers: points of sale in Bamako (supermarkets, chemists' shops), customers at sub-regional and international levels (cosmetics and chocolate industries), for placing orders and following market trends,

- COPROKAZAN, for which ICT serves as a set of marketing and promotional tools,

- AMPJ, for which ICT will be used as a marketing and intermediation tool to assist COPROKAZAN,

- Technical departments, to meet the need for statistics and for a basis for analysis and formulation of development policies and strategies,

- The tax authorities, for tax requirements,

- Consumers, for awareness of the virtues of shea butter.

Management and organisation

Oumar Coulibaly, “Kari and ICT” project leader and director of the AMPJ since October 2002, was originally trained as an agricultural engineer. He has ten years’ experience in development in general, and specifically in supporting enterprises that produce shea butter. It is his firm conviction that the “Kari & ICT” project will help greatly to increase awareness of COPROKAZAN and its products, to develop the market for shea butter, to increase COPROKAZAN’s earnings and thus to improve the living conditions of its members. He is also persuaded that increasing COPROKAZAN’s earnings is necessarily conditional on the use of ICT: the website, e-mail, advertising spots and computer tools that enhance COPROKAZAN’s managerial capacity.

Results

To date, we have obtained the following results:

- The electrical equipment for the shea butter plant has been purchased and installed; it generates solar electricity.
- The computer equipment has been installed at COPROKAZAN's headquarters (3 computers and peripherals) and the office of AMPJ (1 computer and peripherals).
- The official launch of the project took place on 18 January 2007.
- COPROKAZAN's accounting system has been computerised, on Excel software, and staff involved in management have been trained in the use of this system.
- A session to initiate COPROKAZAN staff in the use of Word.
- Creation of COPROKAZAN databases on Access.

Lessons learned

- Projects involving ICT have certain distinctive features.
- Implementation of ICT projects takes time and patience.

Budget

The overall budget for the “Kari & ICT” project is €72,300.

Project Owner : Zantiébougou Women Shea Butter Producers Cooperative (Coopérative des productrices de beurre de karité de Zantiébougou – COPROKAZAN) Website: www.coprokazan.org

Contact Organisation :

Project Contact : IICD