Volunteer Helps Increase Mango Production and Exports
In the summer of 1997, Florida agronomist Juan Guzman traveled to Guinea as a Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer. Guzman provided practical training for 80 mango and avocado growers to help them improve production and sales. He worked with farmers that are members of the Agricultural Marketing and Investment Foundation, a farmers' cooperative known by its French acronym "FICA".

FICA was founded in 1993 to strengthen the Guinean agricultural sector, particularly in the areas of marketing, investment and policy. It is jointly funded by the government of Guinea and USAID.

Ninety-five percent of farmers have less than 7 hectares in Guinea. In some areas, production is falling, which forces farmers to cultivate marginal lands and damage the natural resources of the country. Farmers need assistance to produce more income from less land. FICA has identified mango production as one avenue to increase smallholder agricultural productivity and incomes.

Guzman provided advice and technical assistance to the farmers in all aspects of production and postharvest handling. "Pruning is the practice needed most," said Guzman. "Currently, the height of the trees makes it almost impossible to harvest a good quality fruit. The fruit is dropped on the ground and piled in the sun, sometimes for as long as 3 days while they try to locate transport." Guzman helped develop an inexpensive, locally built fruit picker and taught the farmers how to store the mangoes while waiting for transportation. He also encouraged the farmers to stop plowing under the trees as a method of weed control, which harms the trees' roots.

"We’ve learned some important lessons," says FICA's executive director, Mamy Keita. "For example, we now know that our fruit is of international caliber and should be promoted. Also, we manufactured about 50 pickers using Guzman's protoype as a model and these are being sold to FICA members."

"Growers are now harvesting on an earlier schedule, which has reduced losses from 40% to 15%," reports Keita. "Because of the new harvest and packing techniques, growers have expanded to three new markets that were previously too far to go without having the mangoes rot. One particularly popular variety, that also spoils quickly, was successfully transported to a new market and the entire load was immediately sold upon arrival."

"Because of the reduction in spoilage, the income of growers has increased by approximately 25%, or $250,000 more in income for FICA's members. With the average per capita income in Guinea of $500 per year, a change in profit of this magnitude has an enormous impact," concludes Keita.