Unexpected strawberry crop spins Burkina Faso's 'red gold'

Published 2024년 4월 6일

Tridge summary

In the suburbs of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, strawberry farming has emerged as a highly profitable venture, overtaking traditional crops like cabbage and lettuce. Dubbed as 'red gold' in the Sahel region, strawberries have brought in about $3.3 million in revenue between 2019 and 2020, with Burkina Faso leading the region by producing around 2,000 tonnes annually. Despite facing challenges such as insecurity and jihadist violence, the strawberry industry continues to flourish, exporting over half of its produce to neighboring countries like Ivory Coast, Niger, and Ghana. The high demand and prices, particularly from January to April, make strawberries one of the most lucrative crops for local farmers and sellers.

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Original content

Ouagadougou: In the suburbs of Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, lucrative strawberry farming is supplanting traditional crops like cabbage and lettuce and has become a top export to neighbouring countries. Prized as "red gold" in the Sahel, strawberry crops brought in some $3.3 million from 2019 to 2020, according to agricultural support programme PAPEA. In their January to April season, strawberries "take the place of other crops", Yiwendenda Tiemtore, a farmer in the working-class Boulmiougou district on the city outskirts, told AFP. Tiemtore has been busy harvesting the red fruit since dawn, before temperatures rise to 40 degrees Celsius. He harvests about 25 to 30 kilogrammes of Burkina's popular strawberry varieties, "selva" and "camarosa", every three days, watering his plots from wells. Cultivating strawberries, which thrive on ample sunlight and water, might come as a surprise in this semi-arid West African country. But Burkina Faso leads the region's strawberry ...

Source: Gulfnews