The Delivery Unit, under the Office of the Prime Minister of Guinea (DU), the Ministry of Agriculture and main actors in the sector have set a target of 100 tons of fresh pineapple exports targeting international markets (non-regional), by the end of January 2018.

In order to achieve this objective and to remove key bottlenecks in the value chain, a partnership was signed among the Government, pineapple producers in the Basse-Guinée region and French importer VB International. The DU contributed to lifting a key bottleneck by providing fertilizers that are specific to the cultivation of pineapples and by developing payment facilities for farmers. VB International has committed to purchasing 100 tons of quality pineapple from Guinean producers that meet European market standards, between October 2017 and January 2018.

“This partnership marks a key step in initiating the return of Guinean pineapples into international markets,” said Mamady Youla, Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea.

A leading exporter up until the 1970s and recognized for the quality and variety of its pineapples, including the Cayenne Lisse, Baroness of Rothschild and Queen Victoria, Guinea has been absent from major fresh pineapple consumer markets in recent years. This partnership will allow some 20 producers from the Maferenyah and Kindia areas to receive technical support from the Burquiah Cooperative, which brings considerable experience in exporting pineapples to the European Union, as well as the Cooperative of the Federation of Fruit Planters of the Basse-Guinée region, which will provide technical support and monitoring to the target producers.

A pineapple producer from the Basse-Guinée region taking part in the initiative said: “Through this partnership, we receive technical support that allows us to produce quality fruits that meet the criteria of the European market”.

The DU aims to accelerate the implementation of Government flagship initiatives through the development and incubation of effective, sustainable, and results-oriented implementation and governance approaches. The DU’s pilot projects are focused on agriculture, mining and leadership development. In the agriculture sector, the DU’s interventions, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Commerce, focus on revitalizing the pineapple industry and on supporting Guinea in reclaiming its leadership position in international markets. Three priority interventions are:

• Land preparation: support land extension, preparation and irrigation in order to double land dedicated to pineapple production by 2020, from 400 to 800 hectares.
• Access to fertilizers: improve access and use of fertilizers to increase productivity by 70% by 2020, from 30t/ha to 50t/ha.
• Marketing: increase international exports to reach 2,500 tons/year by 2020.