"An acquaintance of mine produced coconut fibres for door mats. Due to an error, ten tons of coconut fibre was cut at the wrong length. Useless for door mats. I wondered what I could do with it, so I had a container shipped to the Netherlands. After some messing about and experimenting, I discovered that coconut fibre is an excellent material to use as a base for plants to grow on. By mixing it with, for instance, turf, you can create an excellent substrate."
From Sri Lanka to West Africa
"There is also a lot of coconut available in West Africa. It seemed like an interesting source to tap in to. So I went there to look into the possibilities. But Africa was different to Sri Lanka. A lot of coconut, but much to damp to dry the peels. I am not so easily disheartened so I drove to Germany with a trunk full of coconut peels, looking for a machine that would enable me to work with them. And I did. We have now found a partner in Ivory witch whom we have started a local production location. Now we are the only ones who produce the fibres in this way."
Living and doing business in Ivory Coast
Fer has been living partially in the Netherlands and partially living in Ivory Coast for two years now, and recently married his Ivorian wife in the latter country. Besides his work for Dutch Plantin, he has been importing dog food from the Netherlands for the local market for two years. Now he has a wholesaler and two shops in Abidjan with his wife.
"You have to work with local partners to deal with this. The business culture is so different from that in the Netherlands. You can also arrange everything more quickly in Ivory Coast than in the Netherlands, as long as you have the right contacts. Without contacts you have nothing and you are no on."
Tomatoes
He made a surprise discovery in the local supermarket which led him to his new adventure. "Twelve dollars for a kilo of not that great tomatoes? That's a lot of money, even in Dutch standards. Let alone in Abidjan. Most of the tomatoes have to be flown in from Morocco and Lebanon because not enough is produced locally. This is the same throughout west Africa. We crunched numbers with a local partner and made a serious business plan. We calculated that we could product much better products for a considerably lower price. Even if I made a very safe estimate for the price and the harvest year, we could be at the break even point in two years."
Old rebel stronghold
"The conditions inland turned out to be very suitable. And since a new highway has been created, it's not difficult to get from there to Abidjan to supply tomatoes. The plan now is to place a sustainable tomato nursery in Bouake, which can foresee the large local demand and enable us to contribute to work opportunities.
Opportunities for grower
"The area around Bouake is already known for its horticulture, but almost of it is small scale and not enough to meet the demand. We hope to be an example for the local growers with this project, and show that with a good system, a good production can be made so that there is more work and so more wealth."
Last advice
"Put a piece of yourself into it, learn to judge people quickly and learn how to cope with the necessary disappointment."
Source: Grensverleggers, MVO Nederland