A Model and Innovative Cooperative
Located in Orodara, a small urban community nestled in the heart of orchards in western Burkina Faso, the Coopake cooperative was founded in 1963. Today, it spans 800 hectares of orchards and farmland, cultivating and processing mangoes, cashew nuts, sesame, citrus fruits, hibiscus, and shea.
Coopake's primary goal is to value local resources while preserving the environment and providing employment for hundreds of families.
The cooperative boasts hundreds of members, agricultural producers who have come together to process and enhance their production, enabling the local community to thrive in one of the world's poorest countries. Today, Coopake owns two processing units that employ nearly 300 people.
As one of the first companies in the country to shell cashew nuts locally rather than selling raw nuts, Coopake is also a pioneer in the circular economy, utilizing cashew shells as fuel.
Certified organic for nearly twenty years, the cooperative and its members practice no intensive farming. Instead, they garden and maintain sesame plots interspersed with shea trees, mango trees, cashew trees, and hibiscus plants.
Coopake, a social economy enterprise, is an indispensable pillar in this community far from major urban centers. In addition to fair wages for producers and good working conditions for employees, the cooperative invests in the socio-economic development of its community through Fairtrade premiums. They develop programs focused on the needs of the population, particularly the most disadvantaged: access to drinking water, food donations, and financial support for the polio victims' association.
A Brief History of a Partnership
When Umano was founded, Christian, the founder, aimed to offer products from West Africa that were little known here, particularly dried mangoes from Burkina Faso, renowned for their inimitable flavors and previously unavailable in Canada.
During a first trip to this country in 2017, we met several producers of dried mangoes. It was also during this stay that we became aware of the challenges in the production and marketing of cashew nuts. West African countries are the primary producers but do not benefit from it.
Coopake, located in a less accessible region, could not be visited during this trip, but initial contact was made with a representative of the cooperative.
The following year, we placed our first order with Coopake for Fairtrade cashew nuts, which were then delivered to Montreal!
The success of the cashew nuts was not immediate. After a test year, we were close to giving up due to low market response. However, just days before the deadline for renewing the cashew nut purchase contract with Coopake, a documentary on working conditions in cashew shelling centers raised consumer awareness.
With more positive sales forecasts, we placed a second, larger order with the cooperative. Since Coopake also produces dried mangoes, we combined our purchases for these two products starting in 2019-2020. Shea butter and hibiscus were added from 2022, thanks to the integration of an association of shea butter producers within the cooperative.
Since then, our partnership has strengthened, with a new trip to Burkina Faso in 2022, this time entirely dedicated to better understanding Coopake through a week-long immersion in the cooperative's daily life.
Coopake and Umano listen to each other's needs and find solutions to grow our businesses. Together, we strive for improved product quality, a fair income for producers, affordable prices for consumers, and smooth and transparent communication.
