Improving Burkina Faso’s mango supply chain

Improving Burkina Faso’s mango supply chain

Linking Burkina Faso’s supply to European demand

Ewoud Ravenshorst

University of Groningen

I m p r o v i n g B u r k i n a F a s o ’ s m a n g o s u p p l y ch a i n

Improving Burkina Faso’s mango supply chain

Linking Burkina Faso’s supply to European demand

University of Groningen

Faculty of Management and Organization Technology Management

Author: Ewoud Ravenshorst Student number: 1229540 Organization: SNV Burkina Faso

Primary supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ir. J. Wijngaard, University of Groningen Secondary supervisor: Dr. C.H.M. Lutz, University of Groningen Organization supervisor: J.H.W. van der Waal, Fruiteq

Date: July 2006

University of Groningen SNV Burkina Faso

Faculty of Management and Organization Dutch Development Organization

I m p r o v i n g B u r k i n a F a s o ’ s m a n g o s u p p l y ch a i n Preface

Preface

This report is the result of the research I have done for my master’s thesis Technology Management.

The research has been executed in one of the world’s poorest countries: Burkina Faso. My stay in Burkina has been a valuable experience, inspiring, challenging and most of the time good fun.

I am very grateful to all the people that have helped me the last months. Firstly I would like to thank Kees Jan van Til of SNV for offering me the opportunity to do a research on behalf of SNV Burkina Faso, and also for his friendliness and warmth that made me immediately feel at home in a country I had never been before. Furthermore I would like to thank my supervisors from the university Jacob Wijngaard and Clemens Lutz for their useful advices and feedback. Hans Willem van der Waal deserves special thanks for being prepared to be my supervisor in Burkina Faso even though he does not work for SNV. His help has been a great support for me.

A couple of persons have contributed a lot to make my stay in Burkina Faso more pleasant. To start with, I would like to thank my family and friends for keep calling and e-mailing me. Furthermore Pim and Brigitte for their French courses; Karim, Draman and Issouf for supporting us at home; Kiki and Kees-Jan van Til for the dancing evenings and many hours of sporting together; and Leon Peter and Bart for coming to Burkina.

Last but not least I would like to thank Joyce ten Broeke and Annemiek Kalbfleish with whom I have lived together for 6 months in Burkina Faso. They have helped me with my research, but more importantly it was great to be housemates, to travel together and to become friends.

Ewoud Ravenshorst

ewravenshorst@yahoo.com

I m p r o v i n g B u r k i n a F a s o ’ s m a n g o s u p p l y ch a i n E x ecu t i v e s u m m ary

Executive summary

Objective of the research

This Master thesis has been written on behalf of the Dutch development organization SNV Burkina Faso. SNV fights against poverty by giving advice to organizations in developing countries. Each year Burkina Faso produces a lot of mangoes and SNV aims at finding opportunities to increase the profitability of the mango business. This research, being part of a larger study that deals with the whole mango business, concentrates on the export of mangoes. Its objective was to make an analysis of the export supply chain from Burkina Faso to Europe and to find possibilities for improvement in order to better link supply in Burkina to demand in Europe. Furthermore alternative supply chains for the future are identified. The main question was formulated as follows: How should the supply chain of mangoes from Burkina Faso to Europe be designed?

Theoretical framework

To assess the performance of the chain, the method as defined by Van Roekel (2002) has been used.

First the chain systems were described and chain members were identified, together with their roles and relationships. The performance was measured according to requirements of the chain members. In order to structure the performance measurement, the performance criteria as defined by Slack (2002) have been used: quality, speed, reliability, flexibility and costs. Porter (1985) states that comparative advantages can be gained if competitors are outperformed on so-called strategic important activities of the value chain. The value chain consists of activities that add value to the customer. The activities that have been analyzed in this research are: procurement, inbound logistics, operations and outbound logistics.

The performance criteria

At first, the requirements of the importers regarding the performance criteria have been taken into consideration. For, if importers are not satisfied enough, they would search other suppliers. The requirements of importers have their effect further down in the chain. The most important performance criteria, as defined by the importers, are quality and reliability of supply. Exporters will try to meet these requirements. Since costs have a direct impact on the profitability of exporters they should be minimized after the quality and reliability criteria have been met.

Improvements are necessary

In this report a detailed description of the activities in the supply chain has been given, together with

an overview of the export chains from neighbouring countries. It can be concluded that Burkina Faso

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is in a disadvantaged position, so improvements are necessary in order not to loose the competition.

Firstly, Burkina is landlocked, so is dependable on other countries if it wants to export by vessel.

Secondly, Euopean customers more and more emphasize the importance of healthy products. Hence certifications as EurepGAP are becoming more important. Burkina Faso’s production is based on smallholders, which makes it difficult to comply with the EurepGAP standards. For Ivory Coast and Ghana this is much easier due to the fact that their mangoes grow on large, well maintained,

professional plantations. Both countries also have direct access to maritime transport, since they have a port. Ivory Coast has a splendid reputation and currently exports about ten times as much as Burkina Faso Ghana’s production is still quite low but there are many new and large plantations that will bear fruit within a few years. Like Burkina, Mali is landlocked too and also has a production based on smallholders. However, Mali is ahead with respect to quality maintenance and getting EurepGAP certified.

Problems to solve

In order to be able to better meet the importers requirements and thus perform better on the performance criteria, problems in the chain have to be solved. Every stage of the supply chain has been analyzed. Burkina produces a lot of mangoes, but the majority is not suitable for export.

Changing the variety by grafting and planting new trees helps to increase the exportable production.

Also more attention should be paid to the maintenance of the orchards and pruning of the trees. The harvest causes many problems because a lot of non-exportable mangoes are harvested. This results not only in higher transportation costs per exported mango but also in reliability problems for the exporter, since he cannot deliver the agreed volume to the importer. Since harvesting teams are difficult to coordinate and control, it is better to buy the mangoes from intermediates, called ‘pisteurs’. They are paid at the packinghouse only for good quality mangoes and thus will put maximum effort to perform well.

Operations at the packinghouse largely determine the quality of the mango at arrival in Europe. It needs to be prevented that damaged, unhealthy, too mature or too immature mangoes are sent to Europe. Therefore a lot of attention should be paid to training of the people that select the mangoes.

Furthermore problems occur with the packaging. Since it is difficult to find solid and standardized packaging material in Burkina, this should be imported from Ivory Coast.

A bad condition of the roads, unreliable trucks and drivers, customs and police encumbrances are

difficulties regarding the transport to the (air)port. Besides this it is sometimes difficult to get space in

the airplane and the freight rates are high. Many exporters also have financial problems, because it is

tough to get credits and the interest percentages are high. Organizations of exporters or producers

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could help to improve things for their members. However, due to lack of trust and non-payment of the membership fees they have not been very effective until now.

It is possible to improve

There are several improvements to be realized in order to increase the chain’s performance. A national quality label should be developed. This assures a high quality of all the mangoes that leave the country and will finally result in a good reputation. More attention should also be paid to obtaining

certification. Burkina Faso’s production systems are very suitable to be certified organic and Fair Trade. This is a way to gain a comparative advantage. Getting EurepGAP certified, on the other hand, is more difficult, but necessary to meet market requirements in the future. Founding new

organizations, called GIE’s, in which exporters, pisteurs and producers work together will make this easier. Furthermore it should be tried to get assistance from the government and NGO’s.

Possibilities for vertical integration need to be examined, since this can increase the reliability. To save costs, the exporter should use cartons of different heights, because this increases the filling grade of a container. Further investigation is also necessary in order to determine whether large

packinghouses are necessary. It might be possible to pack and cool mangoes near the fields and put them directly in a refrigerated container.

What to do in the future

Besides the above mentioned opportunities to improve the performance of the supply chain, it has been determined how mangoes should be transported to Europe. Present as well as future scenarios are taken into consideration. It is expected that more and more mangoes will be transported by vessel instead of by airplane, mainly because of the lower costs. Transporting mangoes by train to the port of Abidjan in Ivory Coast and from there to Europe is the cheapest, fastest and most reliable option.

However, the political instability in Ivory Coast might impede export via this country in the future, so alternatives have to be found. It is possible to drive a container to Bamako in Mali and put it there on the train to the port of Dakar. Although the port of Dakar has frequent and fast connections with Europe, this is not the best option. The inland transport is long, unreliable and the total costs are high.

It would be better to drive a container straight to the port of Tema and ship it from there to Europe.

If Burkina wants to survive on the European market, it is time for action. SNV could help by bringing

chain members together, stimulate collaboration, create awareness regarding the importance of

certificates and lobby at the government and NGO’s to provide (technical) assistance to members of

the supply chain.

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ... 11

1.1 SNV ... 11

1.2 R ESEARCH BACKGROUND ... 11

1.3 J USTIFICATION OF THE RESEARCH ... 12

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH DESIGN ... 14

2.1 P ROBLEM DEFINITION ... 14

2.2 R ESEARCH QUESTIONS ... 15

2.3 R ESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 17

CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND... 20

3.1 S UPPLY CHAIN ANALYSIS ... 20

3.2 V ALUE CHAIN ... 21

3.3 L OGISTICS IN THE MANGO SUPPLY CHAIN ... 22

3.4 P ERFORMANCE CRITERIA ... 23

3.5 A VAILABILITY OF INFORMATION ... 28

3.6 R ELATIONSHIPS ... 31

3.7 C ONCEPTUAL MODEL ... 34

CHAPTER 4: PRACTICAL BACKGROUND ... 35

4.1 P RODUCTION ... 35

4.2 M ANGOES IN B URKINA : NOT ONLY EXPORT ... 37

4.3 E XPORT OF FRESH MANGOES : AN OVERVIEW ... 39

4.4 R EGULATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS ... 44

4.5 C ONCLUSION ... 49

CHAPTER 5: CHAIN MEMBERS... 50

5.1 D ESCRIPTION ... 50

5.2 R ELATIONS BETWEEN CHAIN MEMBERS ... 53

5.3 I MPORTERS ’ REQUIREMENTS AND THEIR EFFECT ON OTHER CHAIN MEMBERS ... 57

5.4 C ONCLUSION ... 61

CHAPTER 6: DESCRIPTION OF THE EXPORT SUPPLY CHAIN ... 63

6.1 O VERVIEW OF THE EXPORT MANGO SUPPLY CHAIN ... 63

6.2 P ROCUREMENT ... 64

6.3 I NBOUND LOGISTICS : FROM TREE TO PACKINGHOUSE ... 65

6.4 O PERATIONS : PACKINGHOUSE ACTIVITIES ... 69

6.5 O UTBOUND LOGISTICS : FROM B URKINA F ASO TO E UROPE ... 72

6.6 C ONCLUSION ... 78

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CHAPTER 7: COMPARISON WITH NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES... 79

7.1 I VORY C OAST ... 79

7.2 G HANA ... 80

7.3 M ALI ... 81

7.4 C ONCLUSION ... 83

CHAPTER 8: PROBLEMS IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN ... 85

8.1 P RODUCTION AND PROCUREMENT ... 86

8.2 H ARVEST ... 90

8.3 P ACKINGHOUSE OPERATIONS ... 96

8.4 T RANSPORT ... 97

8.5 C HAIN - WIDE PROBLEMS ... 101

8.6 C ONCLUSION ... 103

CHAPTER 9: HOW TO GAIN A COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE... 105

9.1 A SSURING HIGH QUALITY ... 105

9.2 O BTAINING MORE CERTIFICATION ... 108

9.3 I NCREASING RELIABILITY BY CHANGING RELATIONSHIPS ... 111

9.4 R EDUCING THE COSTS ... 115

9.5 R EDUCING COSTS BY OPTIMIZING THE LOCATION AND SIZE OF PACKINGHOUSES ... 117

9.6 C ONCLUSION ... 120

CHAPTER 10: THE MOST FEASIBLE EXPORT ROUTING: A SWOT ANALYSIS ... 122

10.1 S EA FREIGHT OR AIRFREIGHT ?... 122

10.2 I VORY C OAST ... 123

10.3 G HANA ... 126

10.4 M ALI ... 128

10.5 C ONCLUSION ... 131

CHAPTER 11: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS... 132

11.1 P ERFORMANCE CRITERIA IN THE MANGO SUPPLY CHAIN ... 132

11.2 B URKINA F ASO ’ S PERFORMANCE ... 132

11.3 H OW TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN ... 133

11.4 O PPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT ... 134

11.5 T HE BEST WAY TO TRANSPORT MANGOES TO THE IMPORTER ... 137

11.6 R ECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR SNV ... 138

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 139

APPENDICES... FOUT! BLADWIJZER NIET GEDEFINIEERD.

A PPENDIX A: L IST OF INTERVIEWED PERSONS ... F OUT ! B LADWIJZER NIET GEDEFINIEERD .

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A PPENDIX B: V ARIETIES OF MANGOES IN B URKINA AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS ...F OUT ! B LADWIJZER NIET GEDEFINIEERD .

A PPENDIX C: S IZES AND WEIGHTS OF MANGOES ... F OUT ! B LADWIJZER NIET GEDEFINIEERD . A PPENDIX D: C ASE STUDIES OF EXPORTERS ... F OUT ! B LADWIJZER NIET GEDEFINIEERD . A PPENDIX E: C OSTS IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN ... F OUT ! B LADWIJZER NIET GEDEFINIEERD . A PPENDIX F: T HE T ERMINAL F RUITIER ... F OUT ! B LADWIJZER NIET GEDEFINIEERD . A PPENDIX G: C OSTS CAUSED BY TRANSPORT OF REJECTED MANGOES ...F OUT ! B LADWIJZER NIET GEDEFINIEERD .

A PPENDIX H: T RANSPORTATION COSTS ... F OUT ! B LADWIJZER NIET GEDEFINIEERD .

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List of abbreviations

AFELFEL: Association Professionel des Fruits et Legumes = Organization of Malian exporters of fruit and vegetables

AJEX: Association de Jeunes Exportateurs = Organization of Malian exporters of fruit AMELEF: Association Malien des Exportateurs des Legumes et Fruit = Organization of Malian

exporters of fruit and vegetables

APEFELB: Association Professionnelle des Exportateurs de Fruits et Légumes du Burkina APEX: Association Professionelle des Exportateurs

Apipac: Association des Professionnels de l’Irrigation Privée et des Activités Connexes BAME : Bureau dÁppui aux Micro-Entreprises

CBI: Centraal Bureau Import = Central office for the promotion of imports from developing countries

COLEACP: Comité de Libéralisation des Echanges Afrique, Caraïbes, Pacifique FOB: Free On Board. The price excluding the sea transport or air transport GIE: Groupement d’Intérêt Economique

INERA: Institut National de l’Environment et de Recherches Agricoles. A government funded organization that conducts agricultural research

NGO : Non Governmental Organizaton

OCAB: Organization Centrale des producteurs d’Ananas et de Bananes = Central organization of producers of pineapples and bananas

ONAC : Office National pour le Commerce Extérieur SDV : Société Delmas Vieljeu

SNTB: Société Nationale de Transit du Burkina

Sonaceb: Société Nationale de Carton d’Emballage du Burkina TF: Teminal Fruitier

UFMB: Union Fruitière et Maraîchère du Burkina WAFF: West African Fair Fruit

ACP: African, Caribbean, Pacific

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Chapter 1: Introduction

This research on the export of mangoes form Burkina Faso to Europe has been done on behalf of SNV Burkina Faso. In this chapter, a description will be given of SNV as well as the background of the research.

1.1 SNV

SNV is an international development organization originated in The Netherlands. SNV is active in 31 developing countries in five regions – Asia, Latin America, the Balkans, West Africa and East and Southern Africa. In these countries SNV provides advisory services to nearly 1800 local organizations to support their effort against poverty.

SNV exists since 1963. Over the years the role has changed from carrying out visible and tangible tasks by volunteers in the 60s and 70s, to the provision of professional support to disadvantaged populations in the 80s and 90s. In 2002 SNV changed its strategy again, focusing on capacity building and local responsibility instead of supplying expertise. Moreover, SNV got an independent status, meaning that SNV is no longer tied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Nowadays, SNV is fighting against poverty by giving advice to organizations in developing countries. General practice areas include: market access for the poor, responsive and accountable local government, collaborative forest management and sustainable tourism. In Burkina Faso, one of its practice areas is the mango business.

1.2 Research background

Burkina Faso is a sub-Saharan country with a surface of approximately 274.000 km² and a population of almost 14 million ¹ . Situated in the centre of western Africa the country is landlocked. The countries enclosing Burkina Faso are Mali in the north and west, Niger in the east and Benin, Togo, Ghana an Ivory Coast in the south.

Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world. This can be explained by its strong

population growth (2.9% per year) and arid soil (especially in the north of the country where droughts are quite common). The life expectancy at birth is 46 to 48 years ² . By far, most people are working in the primary sector (86% of the labour force), representing 40% of the gross domestic product. The main products are maize, sorghum, millet, peanuts, rice and cotton. But also the production of fruit

1 Numbers based on CIA World Fact Book (available on the Internet on www.cia.gov) and Wikipedia, 2005

2 Available on the Internet on www.minbuza.nl

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and vegetables is substantial, especially in the southwest of the country. Together, fruit and vegetables contribute for 3.4% to the national production and 2.8% of the export. The majority of the fruit production consists of mangos (55%), leaving citrus fruit (30%) and other fruit varieties behind

There are an estimated 15.000 hectares of mango orchards in Burkina Faso, with an annual production of about 120.000 tons ^∗ . The mango market is promising on the local, national as well as on the sub- regional market (i.e. the neighbouring countries) and export markets. For various reasons only a small fraction of the total production is suitable to export and even a smaller fraction is actually exported.

Nevertheless, this research will focus on the export of mangoes. Firstly because high prices are paid on the export market, offering opportunities for profit, and secondly because the demand in Europe for mangoes is still growing.

1.3 Justification of the research

SNV Burkina Faso wanted to involve the Faculty of Management and Organization of the University of Groningen in their consultancy practices. The proposed support consisted of action oriented research projects in which students and lecturers of the University of Groningen as well as local SNV- staff would participate. Action oriented means that the research will focus on some clearly identified problems that the SNV staff and their clients are facing. The aim for SNV was twofold: obtaining external advice in order to be better able to help their clients and enabling students to write their final thesis in a development work setting.

It total 6 students have done a research on behalf of SNV Burkina Faso, from which 5 are related to the mango market and 1 to the consultancy practices of SNV. The goal of this research is to make an analysis of the export supply chain of mangoes and find improvements in order to better link supply in Burkina to demand in Europe. It is part of a larger study in which the whole mango market in Burkina Faso is handled. The ultimate goal of the researches is to find ways to improve market access for mango producers in the country. Topics of the other researches are:

- Market identification and channel design within the market of Burkina Faso by J. ten Broeke.

- A benchmark between Ghana and Burkina Faso to identify commercial collaboration possibilities (E. de Jong)

- Market opportunities in Niger for mango producers in Burkina by H. Jalving - The role of producer organizations in the mango marketing channel, A. Kalbfleisch

∗ These numbers vary a lot, as will be shown in chapter 4

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The results of the researches are summarized in one report called: ‘Improving market access to mango producers in Burkina Faso’. It has to be remarked that is was also aimed by SNV to set up another research in order to get a detailed overview of the market in Europe. Until now this research has not been executed, but would be useful to better map the demands and requirements of European customers.

In its program, SNV aims at improving the mango supply chain by advising chain members how to

perform better. It has mango producer organizations as important clients. SNV sees opportunities for

them to make more profit. The researches as described above will help SNV to get more insight in the

supply chain. Strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement will be identified in order to

enable SNV to give a better advice to their clients. The research statement and method of this research

will be elaborated on in the next chapter.

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Chapter 2: Research Design

2.1 Problem definition

Exporting products from developing countries means that one has to deal with deficiencies in infrastructural resources. In many cases the transportation networks, telecommunication facilities, worker skills, material quality and (technical) equipment are on a lower level than in the developed world. The advice that will be given in this study will help to design the supply chain in such a way that these differences between developing countries and developed countries can be best overcome.

In order to maximize the profitability of the mango-export in Burkina Faso, the supply chain has to be optimized. Therefore the objective of the research is formulated as follows:

Provide advice to SNV about how the current supply chain of mangoes from Burkina Faso to Europe could be improved, and identify alternative supply chains for the future, in order to better link the supply of mangoes in Burkina Faso to the demand in Europe.

This objective may suggest that the whole supply chain will be taken into consideration. In fact, the analysis starts at the production of mangoes and stops at the moment that mangoes have arrived at the (air)port of destination in Europe. The commercialization in Europe does not fall within the scope of the research. Furthermore a distinction has to be made between the supply chains of fresh mangoes and processed or dried mangoes. Fresh mangoes are perishable and therefore require different logistics than the processed and dried ones. The focus of this research lies on the logistical part of the supply chain of fresh mangoes, where seemingly small problems can cause huge losses. As Jabati (2003) shows: ‘Good (logistic)management and an efficient infrastructure, which includes appropriate post- harvest processes, strict food hygienic standards and a smooth flow of products throughout the supply chain, have become a necessity to survive in the export market.’

The advice will concern the present and the future. Since Burkina Faso is situated in a dynamic region, its political and economical environment is changing continuously. Some neighbouring countries suffer from political tensions, while others are investing in infrastructure and production capacity.

These changes can generate possibilities, but problems too for the design of the logistical part of the supply chain, so their effects have to be analyzed.

The study is explorative and descriptive. It aims at providing SNV and overview of the export supply

chains of mangoes to Europe, revealing problems and generating opportunities for improvement.

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2.2 Research questions

2.2.1 Main question

Derived from the objective, the main question of the research is:

How should the supply chain of mangoes from Burkina Faso to Europe be designed?

To answer the main question the supply chain will be analyzed in order to find improvements, but also the best alternative for the current supply chain is determined, given certain future scenarios. The latter is relevant regarding the fact that the political situation in Cote d’Ivoire might impede transport via that country, while on the other hand production expansion and/or improvements of infrastructure in other countries can make them more feasible. Since it is impossible to answer the main question straightaway, it has been divided into sub-questions.

2.2.2 Sub-questions

Since this study concentrates on the export of mangoes, the requirements of importers have to be taken into consideration. They might have certain requirements which have to be met to make import

possible or to make import from Burkina Faso preferable in comparison to other countries. Importers compare different (potential) supplying countries with each other, based on certain performance criteria. It needs to be determined which criteria play a key role. After all, Burkina Faso has to be competitive compared to other countries to make the export of mangoes feasible. The requirements of importers will have their effect on all stages of the chain. It needs to be determined whether producers and exporters are able to meet the demands of the European importers.

1. What are the requirements of the importers and what do they imply for other chain members?

At the moment of writing mangoes are already exported from Burkina Faso to Europe. According to Janick and Whipkey (2002, p87), the commodity chain for international fresh fruit and vegetable trade consists of retailers, importers, exporters, and growers. Though, other parties could play a role as well.

By mapping the existing supply chains it will be made clear what routings the exported mangoes follow, which parties are involved and what role they play. This results in the following sub-question:

2. How does the current supply chain of mangoes from Burkina Faso to Europe look like?

Since Burkina Faso is not the only country in Western-Africa that produces and exports mangoes, a

benchmark with its neighbouring countries might result in an identification of problems and

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opportunities for improvement, but also in an insight in Burkina Faso’s strengths. Therefore the supply chains in neighbouring countries should be described.

3. How do the mango supply chains in Burkina Faso’s neighbouring countries look like?

a. Ivory Coast b. Ghana c. Mali

Now it is known how the supply chain looks like, what the requirements of the importers are and how they affect other chain members. Combined with a comparison with other countries (potential) problems should to be identified in order to improve the supply chain. Solving these problems might contribute to an optimization of the supply chain.

4. What are the major problems in the supply chain?

It may be possible to improve the supply chains with respect to the performance criteria as identified in the second sub-question. To accomplish improvements, different stages in the supply chain will be analyzed, starting with the production and harvest, until the (air)port of destination. Based on the results, is has been decided to focus the further research on the coordination of the harvest, the transportation to and from the cold store, the (in)ability of obtaining certifications and the relationship between the supply chain members. Furthermore the optimal location of a cold store is determined because this could results in costs savings. Possible obstacles for export and opportunities for improvement are identified within the focus areas.

5. What are the opportunities to improve the supply chains?

Answers on the questions above will provide recommendations on how to improve the supply chain.

However, it should be noticed that until now, major (political) developments in the region have not been taken into account. The following sub-questions deals with this issue and with other future scenario’s too.

The best routing and mode of transportation between the packinghouse and the (air)port of destination need to be determined, given the developments in the region. Therefore the different alternatives should be mapped. Although there are numerous possibilities, it has been decided in accordance with SNV, to focus the research on the supply chains via Ivory Coast, Ghana and Mali-Senegal.

Furthermore the possibility to use airfreight will be analyzed. It will be determined how the existing

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infrastructure and logistical channels could be used for export of mangoes from Burkina Faso, which investments and improvements are needed and if, how and when these are going to be accomplished.

With the purpose of making a comparison of the alternative supply chains, an overview should be given of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. While assessing the supply chains the performance characteristics as earlier defined need to be taken into account. What supply chain serves the interest of importers, exporters and producers best?

6. How can Burkina Faso optimally transport its mangoes to Europe?

a. Sea freight or airfreight?

b. Which export routing?

Now the main question has been divided into sub-question. The following paragraph will elaborate on the actual design of the research.

2.3 Research methodology

2.3.1 Design of the research

This paragraph explains how the report is structured. Chapter 1 has introduced the research. This chapter prescribes the research statement, the data collection, method of analysis and the limitations.

In the third chapter the theoretical concepts are given, and it is shown how these concepts result in a conceptual model. Chapter 4 gives the background of the research. Subsequently, the actual answering of the research question begins. First the chain members and the activities in the supply chain are described in chapter 5 and 6. These descriptions give answers on the first two sub-questions. A comparison with the neighbouring countries is made in chapter 7. For, Burkina can probably learn from its neighbours and problems that are faced in neighbouring countries could result in problem identification and solving in Burkina. The problems in the supply chain are identified in chapter 8, giving an answer on sub-question 4, followed by opportunities for improvement in order to gain a comparative advantage in chapter 9. After chapter 9, the first five sub-questions have been answered.

Chapter 10 identifies the best export routing. At last, conclusions of the research are given in chapter 11.

2.3.2 Time frame

SNV has formulated the initial management question in Mai 2005. From that moment the preliminary

research started in The Netherlands. In May, June and July a literature review has been done to set up

the research and the initial management question has been translated into an objective, main question

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and sub-questions. Furthermore, several importers have been interviewed in order to get an overview of their requirements regarding the import of mangoes. It was presumed that their requirements would affect chain members further down in the supply chain. Rules and regulations that might play a role in the supply chain were analyzed by means of literature (magazines, books and the internet) in order to get to know the requirements for successful export of mangoes to Europe.

August has been used to improve the French language skills of the researcher. The actual field research has taken place from October to February and was done in western Africa. Interviews have been held there with several parties that play a role in the supply chain. Organizations in Burkina Faso acted as starting point, but finally also persons in Mali and Ghana were interviewed, because these countries might provide Burkina Faso access to a sea port. Interviews have been held with:

- Producers

- Producer organizations

- Harvesters and harvesting agents (Pisteurs) - Exporters

- Trucking companies

- Clearing and forwarding agents (Transiteurs) - Railways

- Airlines

- Shipping companies - Mango (market) specialists

For a complete overview of the interviewed persons, see Appendix A.

Back in The Netherlands, the months April to July 2006 have been used to analyze the data and to write the report.

2.3.3 Data collection method

The goal of the interviews was to be able to describe the chain systems and to explore problems that exist in the chain. To accomplish this, the interviews were held in a semi-structured way. For two reasons the interviewer has used a topic list and didn’t formulate precise questions beforehand. First, the interviewer didn’t know in advance how the supply chain looked like and what problems were prevalent, so it was difficult not possible to formulate specific questions. Secondly, people in Burkina Faso feel interrogated if the questions are asked in a fixed format and will easily loose their

willingness to cooperate if question are asked in a fixed format.

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During the interviews the snowball method has been used. Information obtained in one interview resulted in questions for the next one. Information obtained in each interview was taken into

consideration for the next ones, so questions could become more specific and a complete picture of the supply chain could be drawn. Also the interviewed persons were asked for other contacts that were probably interesting for the research. Each interview contributed to an increased knowledge and to an increased network of contact persons.

2.3.4 Data analysis method

As has been said in paragraph 2.1 the research is descriptive and explorative. Most of the data is qualitative, so no statistical analysis has been used. The research is aimed at giving a consistent picture of the supply chain and the relations that are prevalent. Because sometimes the variation of the

answers was high, it has been tried to filter the peaks and erratic results.

2.3.5 Limitations of the research

The most important limitations relate to the language barrier and the cultural difference between the interviewer and the interviewees. French is the native language neither for the interviewer nor for the majority of the interviewees. Nevertheless, most interviews have been conducted in French. It also took time to get adapted to the culture in Burkina Faso. People tended to give more indirect, social correct answers than in The Netherlands. Therefore many control questions have been used during the interviews.

Another limitation is the limited time in which the study had to be conducted. It impeded a detailed

analysis of the requirements of final customers and retailers. It has been chosen to focus on the

importer’s requirements. For, importers requirements are on their turn based on the requirements of

the final customers. The interviews with importers have been restricted to Dutch importers. This forms

another limitation, since this research does not only handle the export to The Netherlands, but to whole

Europe. Although many requirements of European importers would probably be the same, there might

also be differences among countries. However, it can be remarked that Dutch importers import the

largest volumes. A substantial proportion of those mangoes are subsequently re-exported to other

countries in Europe. Therefore Dutch importers would also take market demands in those countries

into consideration, so there requirements are rather representative for the European demand.

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Chapter 3: Theoretical background

Literature has been used to provide a structure to the description and analysis of the supply chain. In this chapter theories will be described, based on which the performance of a supply chain can be assessed in order to find possible improvements. The conceptual model in the last paragraph gives a clear picture of the structure of the study and shows how the theory is linked to practice.

3.1 Supply chain analysis

If the goal is to find an optimal design for the mango supply chain, its performance should be assessed and alternative supply chain should be compared with each other in order to choose the best option. In this research the method as suggested by Van Roekel et al. (2002) will be followed. According to them performance measurement could be done by first describing the chain systems, followed by the

identification of the players in the chain with their functions, roles and relationships. The performance should subsequently be measured according to criteria as set by the chain partners. These criteria may be conflicting; therefore it needs to be determined to which criteria priority is given. Before

continuing, it has to be realized that the majority of supply chains are not designed but rather developed over time (Stock and Lambert, 2001, p79).

To be successful, mango exporters should strive to satisfy its stakeholders. Although all stakeholders are important, priority will be given to the criteria as set by the importers. If there is no demand or if the regulations of the European Union for food safety are not being met, it does not make sense to try to export to Europe. However, to make the business sustainable, the interest of other stakeholders must not be forgotten. (Schary, 2001) If the mangoes are sold under a Fair Trade label such as Max

Havelaar profitability and development of producer organizations needs extra attention. In those cases the satisfaction of their interests is emphasized. To structure the performance measurement in order to effectively detect possibilities for improvement, the performance objectives as defined by Slack and Lewis (2001, 2002) will be used. These criteria, on which will be elaborated in paragraph 3.4, help to articulate and satisfy market requirements.

Within the supply chain analysis a SWOT analysis will be conducted to get an overview of the alternative supply chains and to compare them with each other, as suggested by Achuonjei et al.

(2003). In a SWOT analysis general Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the supply

chain will be identified. In this case, the SWOT analysis will mainly act as a tool to give a structured

overview of the alternatives. The analysis in this research will mainly focus on the logistics in the last

part of the supply chain: the transport to the (air)port and the intercontinental transport.

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3.2 Value chain

Export of mangoes is only feasible if the value of the mangoes, as perceived by the customers, is sufficient in comparison to its costs. In this research importers are considered as (final) customers, since they are the last party within the scope of the research. Feasibility means thus that the importers are prepared to pay an amount of money for the mangoes, which is higher than the costs made in the preceding part of the supply chain.

The (perceived) value, based on which importers assess the mangoes, is dependent on how well activities in the supply chain are executed. Hence the performance of the chain can be assessed based on the extent to which the importers’ requirements are met. In an ideal situation, each link in the supply chain performs optimally by perfectly executing all its activities. The ideal situation is a utopian dream, but the value chain as introduced by Porter (1985, p33-53), can help to improve the total performance of the chain, while starting at a firm level. A value chain consists of all activities that add value for the final customer. ‘’Value is created as goods move along the vertical chain.

Therefore the vertical chain is sometimes referred to as the value chain.’’ ³ Porter states that a company gains a competitive advantage if it outperforms others on so-called strategically important activities. He divides these strategically important activities into two groups: the primary and supportive activities. Primary activities consist of inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and support. The organization is vulnerable if competitors perform better in these value adding activities. Supportive activities are: firm infrastructure, human resource management, technology development and procurement.

The focus of this study will be on the first three primary activities. Marketing and support are not taken into consideration sine they fall outside the scope of the research ⁴ . Porter considers procurement as a supportive activity. Nevertheless it will be looked at in this research, because of its importance for exporters in the mango supply chain. Coyle et al. (1997, p72) state that procurement of goods and services contributes to the competitive advantage of an organization. In the mango supply chain the quality of the input highly affects the quality of the final product and hence the customer satisfaction and revenue. In this case the procurement process deals with the selection of and relation with

producers of mangoes and therefore has a high influence on aspects as quality, costs and reliability of the product that the exporter can offer to the importer. Later in the report will be elaborated on this.

Furthermore procurement has to do with the purchase of packaging and other materials. Thus

3 Besanko, D., Dranove, D. and Shanley, M., Economies of strategy, John Wiley and Sons, USA, 2000, p404

4 It was planned by SNV to let another student execute an extensive market research in Europe

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procurement, inbound logistics, operations and outbound logistics are the area of this study: from the mango tree until the (air)port of destination.

Now the value chain within firms has been discussed. However, Porter developed the value chain not only to describe activities that add value within firms, but also across firms. Each party in the supply chain in its turn has its own value chain. ‘Analyzing competitive advantage involves looking not only at the firm’s value chain, but at the entire vertical chain of production’ (Besanko et al., 2000, p404).

Porter (1985) calls this gathering of different value chains, including the value chains of producers and customers, a value system. According to him a firm only gains and sustains competitive advantage if it understands how to fit in the overall value system. Christopher (1997, p70-78) integrates the different value chains in an extended value chain, showing that the value chains of the company, its suppliers and customers are connected with each other. The figure below shows an extended value chain.

Figure 1: Extended value chain of Christopher (1997, p72). Modified to this research.

The starting point of this research will be the value chain of the exporter, but in accordance with the theories above, the value chains of other parties in the chain must not be forgotten since a sustainable business is what is aimed at. Schary (2001, p63) states that an increase of the value of the chain’s final output and a reduction of its cumulative costs should be focused on. Accordingly the operational effectiveness of a chain as a whole is more important than the performance of individual firms.

3.3 Logistics in the mango supply chain

The term ‘supply chain’ has already been used frequently in this report. Since the objective of the research is to improve the supply chain, it makes sense to make clear what the terms supply chain and logistics exactly entail. Since logistics plays an important role in the chain, this concept will also be elaborated on.

The importance of logistics is shown by different authors. According to Coughlan (1996) the physical distribution function offers a great potential for profit improvement. In many industries, distribution

Producers’

Value Chain

Inbound logistics

Operations Outbound Logisctis

Importers’

Value

Chain

Procurement

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costs can be as much as 30 to 40% of the total costs ⁵ . Besides costs, logistics also affects factors as product quality and customer satisfaction. Christopher (1998) states that if companies lack

productivity advantage and value advantage, enhanced logistic management could help them to reduce costs and to increase service.

The supply chain can be seen as a set of firms that pass materials forward (La Londe and Masters, 1994) or as a network of organizations that are involved through upstream and downstream linkages, in the different processes and activities that produce value in the form of products and services delivered to the ultimate customer (Christopher, 1992). Since the value chain has defined in paragraph 3.2 as ‘all activities that add value for the final customer’ it is clear that the supply chain and value chain are highly linked to each other.

Supply chains can thus be seen as the various firms that contribute to the product or service when it goes from its origin to its final consumer. In the mango supply chain it starts at the mango tree and ends at the consumer of the mangoes. Logistics plays a role in adding value as is demonstrated by Tracey (2004, p31): ´’The ultimate objective of logistics management is to enhance the total value offered to customers, be they other companies in the chain or the ultimate customers.´’

In paragraph 3.2 has been spoken of inbound logistics and outbound logistics in the value chain. But how does logistics relate to the concept supply chain? Ballou (1971) states that logistics is the management of all activities which facilitate movement and the coordination of supply and demand in the creation of time and place utility of goods. Supply chain is a broad concept, consisting of many activities. Stock and Lambert (2001, p57) make clear that logistics can be seen as a part of the supply chain: “Logistics management is that part of the supply chain process that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective flow and storage of goods, services, and related information from the point-of-origin to the point-of-consumption in order to meet customers’ requirements”. ⁶

3.4 Performance criteria

Slack and Lewis (2002, p41) define performance objectives as the dimensions of an operation’s performance, with which it will be attempted to satisfy market requirements. Different stages of the supply chain will be analyzed based on the criteria as set by the chain members. In particular the requirements of importers regarding the performance objectives will be taken into account. Later in the research will be determined to what extend each criteria is important for the overall performance of the

5 Anne T. Coughlan, Marketing Channels, 5th ed. 1996, pag 147

6 Stock, J.R. and Lambert, D.M., Strategic Logistics Management, McGraw-Hill, USA, 2001, p57

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chain, i.e. the value perceived by the importer. Slack and Lewis have distinguished five performance objectives: quality, speed, reliability, flexibility and costs. Below, these objectives will be described and their relevance with respect to the research will be demonstrated.

3.4.1 Quality

Many definitions of quality refer to the ‘specification’ of a product or service, usually meaning high specification ⁷ . The quality of the product is influenced by the logistical part of the supply chain. Since mangoes are perishable goods, it is obvious that time between harvest and consumption plays an important role in the process. This aspect will be discussed later in this paragraph.

The quality of the end product in the mango supply chain starts at the production. Good quality mangoes need to be produced and harvested. It will be investigated how the quality can be further influenced by logistics. Shelf life reducing bruises, cuts and scuffs can easily occur when the harvesting, transportation and handling operations are not carried out with sufficient care and attention. Maintaining the right temperature during the whole transportation and storage is of major concern. According to Thompson (2003, p19) most defects to apples in Italy were caused during harvesting and transport to the packinghouse, rather than by maltreatment during grading and packaging, so attention should be paid to those matters. Packaging protects the mangoes against damage but can also make a difference in shelf life. But not only the right packaging plays a role. It is important to package the right mangoes, meaning that the selection should be done well. .

According to Achuonjei (2003) a subdivision of the term concept quality could be made. He distinguishes two types of quality:

1. quality conformance 2. quality consistency

In this case, quality conformance means compliance with European accepted standards and specifications such as EurepGAP. Also information with respect to traceability can be regarded as quality conformance. Quality consistency, on the other hand, deals with the accepted levels of variability in terms of for instance size, colour, Brix level (i.e. the percentage of sugar in a fruit) and ripeness. Thus, quality conformance deals with the processes in the supply chain (i.e. the

circumstances under which the mangoes are produced handled and transported). The quality consistency refers to the physical characteristics of the mangoes.

7 Slack, N. and Lewis, M., Operations strategy, Pearson Education Limited, UK, 2002, p43

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3.4.2 Speed

Speed is defined by Slack and Lewis (2002) as the time between the beginning and the end of a process. And by Slack et al (2001) as the time customers have to wait until they receive their products or services. Growing mangoes is a time-consuming process, but will not be included in the research since the velocity of this process cannot be influenced. The starting point of the time analysis in this research is the moment the mangoes are ready to be harvested. Speed in the mango supply chain refers to the time the operations take, starting at the harvest until the final customer.

Speed and quality are highly interrelated. If the (logistical) process takes too much time, the mangoes will be rotten before they have reached the final customer. What needs to be determined is the actual speed of the delivery, the desirable and acceptable speed, and which operations (unnecessarily) time consuming. A distinction has to be made in necessary (processing/transporting) time and waiting time.

The latter adds costs, without adding value, so should be prevented if possible.

3.4.3 Reliability

The third performance criterion mentioned by Slack and Lewis (2002, p44) is reliability. The reliability of a process says something about whether the promises with respect to the delivery are kept. A high reliability means that the delivery times given to the customers are honoured. Slack and Lewis show a linkage between speed and reliability. The lower the promised speed, the easier it is to obtain a high reliability. Dornier et al. (1998, p46) considers speed and reliability as one performance criteria: service.

In this report the term reliability will be used, but speed and reliability will be examined separately.

The reason for this lies in the fact that mangoes are perishable and therefore quoting long delivery times is not a suitable option to increase the reliability in the mango supply chain. Also the growing period of the mangoes can hardly be influenced and keeping slack in the in the process after harvesting is not desirable either, since each loss of time means less time for the importers, retailers and

supermarkets to sell the product. Eventually it means a decrease of the product quality.

Reliability in the mango supply chain not only says something about the delivery dates, it also deals

with the fact whether there are at least mangoes delivered and if they have the right volume and

varieties. The reason why reliability is relevant to investigate lies in the fact that mangoes cannot be

stored for a long time, so clients probably won’t have large inventories. A low inventory results in a

risk of getting out of stock if the reliability is low. In the research a distinction will be made between

reliability in the short term and reliability in the long term.

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Reliability in the short term

Reliability in the short term is related to the probability that the right variety and quantity of mangoes is delivered at the right time. Each part in the supply chain has to function properly, so the mangoes will be delivered on the moment that was agreed upon before. This means that both the capacity and speed of handling and transportation has to be sufficient.

Another important matter with respect to the reliability is the forecast of the production. Volumes, dates and sizes are usually determined and negotiated upon before the start of the mango campaign.

There will be looked after possibilities to make the production forecast more reliable. Hereby, relationships and communication between the links in the supply chain play essential roles.

Reliability in the long term

The second component of reliability is the reliability of the logistical part of the supply chain in the long term. Different alternatives to transport mangoes from Burkina Faso to Europe are compared with eachother in this research. Since Burkina Faso is land-locked, the mangoes have to cross other

countries if they are not transported by airfreight. To find the most suitable country in terms of reliability of the supply chain on the long term , it is necessary to assess the risks in the chain.

Questions about the political (in)stability of a country, its infrastructure development and about its economic situation and their effects on the export of mangoes need to be answered.

Country risk analysis as described by Sundaram et al. (1995) is helpful to identify the economic strengths and weaknesses of a country. In his framework a country is analysed with respect to its economical performance, strategy and context. A country risk analysis could provide useful

information with respect to the assessment of the mango supply chains, but it is rather time consuming as well. For this reason a full country risk analysis will not be executed in this study. Nevertheless the neighbouring countries of Burkina Faso that could be interesting for the mango export will be

compared with each other based on economical aspects that directly influence the export and there will be briefly looked at their political situation. Since the present security situation does not allow

conducting interviews in Ivory Coast, the political instability and the political risk (i.e. the probability

that a political event occurs, multiplied by its impact) will be analyzed based on secondary data. Long

term reliability is also influenced by the financial situation of the chain members. A bankruptcy of a

chain member might influence the reliability of the chain as a whole.

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3.4.4 Flexibility

Flexibility means being able to change the operation in some way. ⁸ Slack and Lewis (2001) and Dornier (1998) distinguish several dimensions of flexibility of a logistical system:

1. Volume flexibility 2. Delivery flexibility

3. Product or service flexibility 4. Mix flexibility

It will be determined whether these different types of flexibility need improvement and which links in the supply chain are the bottlenecks for these different flexibilities.

In the mango supply chain volume flexibility relates to the effort, time and money that are required to change the capacity of the system. It means being able to anticipate to an unexpected order, but regards also to the costs and effort of stopping the operation when the there is no need anymore for logistical capacity. Mangoes are highly seasonal, so this factor has to be taken into consideration.

Delivery flexibility is the ability to change the dates of delivery when demanded for. Since mangoes are perishable, postponing the delivery will cause a quality decrease. Nevertheless it might be possible to decrease the transportation times, for example by using airfreight instead of sea freight.

The third dimension, product flexibility is the ability of the system to deal with new products. Here could be thought of using the same system for other products than mangoes. Is it possible to combine mangoes and other products and/or can be switched to other products when mangoes are not available anymore? Mix flexibility can be seen as the ability to change sizes and varieties of the mangoes.

3.4.5 Costs

The price a customer is prepared to pay for products is dependent on how well the different stages of the supply chain have been executed. In order to make export feasible and sustainable for all the chain members, this price has to be higher than the total costs. Therefore it needs to be determined how cost could be reduced. Costs that are made without adding any value (e.g. unnecessary transportation, handling and administrative delays) have to be avoided. Cost savings are obviously desirable if they result in an increased efficiency. In cases however, where cost savings are at the expense of other performance characteristics such as quality and/or reliability the desirability should be judged.

8 Slack, N., Chambers, S. and Johnston, R., Operations management, Pearson Education Ltd, UK, 2001, p59

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3.4.6 Using the performance criteria

To use the performance criteria more effectively, they should be divided into two groups. The first type consists of ‘hard’ criteria that form a sine qua non for mango export from Burkina Faso to Europe. An obvious example for such a criterion is that the system must assure that the mangoes reach the consumer before they are rotten. Dornier et al. (1998, p47) calls this type of criteria ‘qualifying’.

‘A qualifying criterion is defined as the minimum level, required to participate in the competition (e.g., quality for a commodity-type product.).’

On the other hand there are ‘order winning’ criteria. These come into play only after all the necessary criteria have been met. They differentiate and rank the alternatives. Based on these criteria the final decision is made. Dornier describes winning criteria as follows: ‘A winning criteria is one that distinguishes a company relative to its competition – customers buy a firm’s products because of that specific criteria (e.g., cost for a commodity-type product). Also delivery in time can be one of those criteria if the importers accept delays as long as the mangoes are still of sufficient quality

The concept of winning and qualifying criteria will be used to determine the conditions for a

successful export. They show which characteristics a supply chain certainly must have and what can be done to improve the supply chain. The concept of winning and qualifying criteria will be used here to compare the performance of alternative supply chains with each other.

3.5 Availability of information

Although information is neither by Dornier (1998) nor by Slack and Lewis (2002) defined as a performance objective, information flows are of eminent importance in the mango supply chain from Burkina to Europe. In this study, information is considered as part of other performance criteria.

Reliability requires information about production and quality conformance criteria cannot be met without information about the origin of the product. But information also influences the other performance criteria. It will be demonstrated to which extent exporters are able to make information timely and accurately available for importers. Information with respect to traceability, production dates, sizes and volumes for example can generate a competitive (dis)advantage. The availability of information depends on the technical ability of chain members to obtain, to process and to transfer information, as well as on their willingness to do so.

The fact that it is nowadays possible to ship fresh produce from halfway across the world offers

opportunities for developing country producers and exporters. Cross-border supply chains are

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emerging. ⁹ The supply chain of mangoes from Burkina Faso to Europe is such a cross-border supply chain. Van Roekel et al. (2002) state that these supply chains result for instance in new forms of production, technologies and organizational relations. It may seem that there are no backdrops for the stakeholders in the supply chain of mangoes form Burkina Faso. In reality, however, there are reasons for concerns.

The production of mangoes in Burkina Faso is mainly done by small scale producers. Unfortunately, as Van Roekel et al. (2002) show, they are in a disadvantaged position to adjust to the new market conditions. West-European customers demand fresh, healthy and safe food. Also the environment, social components (Fair Trade) and animal welfare are becoming more important. So in order to achieve economic growth, producers have to learn how to deal and process the information and demands they receive and how to manage their farms and business. This implies more than just focusing on crops. Producers and exporters must realize that exporting mangoes is a serious and professional business in which a timely and opportune response to market demand and learning to interpret international trends are crucial for survival. Exporters are the spider in the web: they transfer market information to producers and production information to importers in Europe. They are the primary party responsible for meeting the supply chain requirements set by the importers. If the processing and transmission of information from and to the customers in Europe is necessary to survive in the export market, it needs to be investigated whether producers and exporters in Burkina Faso are capable and prepared to act correctly.

In the mango supply chain the information flow is both upstream and downstream, as is showed in the figure below. It also shows that information can be seen as a component of quality. Upstream

information helps producers and exporters to produce the right products and to use the right processes, while downstream information (such as traceability) is part of quality consistency.

9 Van Roekel, J., Willems, S., Boselie, D.M., Cross-Border Agri Supply Chain Management, World Bank, USA,

2002

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Figure 2: Information and product flow in the mango supply chain

Source: Dornier (1998, p212). Adapted to this research

To decrease the gap between the western demands for quality and information and the African situation, Trienekens (2003, p93) suggests supply chain integration. He states that chain integration can help to improve flows of information regarding customer’s preferences, market conditions,

customer’s concerns on safe food and environmental friendly production processes. Besides this, chain integration can improve production systems by bringing new varieties and new technologies to the primary stage of the chain. For the mango supply chain this would imply that integration would make sure that their requirements are met from the production until the arrival in Europe. First, their requirements would be clear in all stages of the chain and also more financial means would be available at the production. Janick and Whipkey (2002) point at the importance of visits by importers to Africa. They can provide technical assistance or even permanent staff to African exporters in order to help them to meet the market requirements. Some importers already have equity stakes in African export companies.

Above studies make clear that the information aspect and western quality demands could possibly limit the mango export from Burkina Faso to Europe. In the research will be analyzed to what extent these problems are relevant for Burkina Faso and what could be done to overcome these problems. A distinction is made between technical limitations and limitations caused by lack of readiness. As demonstrated by Trienekens (2003) and Janick and Whipkey (2002), the relationships in the supply chain influence the way and extent the demand for quality and information is geared to the supply.

Since relationships may affect other performance aspects as well, they will be discussed in the next paragraph.

Flow of physical goods (Downstream flow)

Flow of demand information (Upstream flow)

Grower Exporter Importer Retailer

Flow of production information (Downstream flow)