Discover the story of Sondo and his cocoa cooperative in Côte d’Ivoire, the success story of an entire farming community that illustrates the role of SME financing in africa, supported by international microfinance institutions, in strengthening agricultural communities.

“My name is Mr. Yembie Sondo, and I am the President of the SOCOOPALAO cooperative. We are a cocoa cooperative. The cooperative started in 2009 with a group of 107 people. Today, we have grown to 1,500 members. So All of this means that, with all to the trust the cooperative inspires, everyone wants to join it. That is why we are making progress.

At the beginning, it was complicated and difficult because to start, you need many things. First, storage facilities. Second, scales. And third, trucks to collect cocoa in remote areas. There were none. So we strated by renting trucks. Often we ended up with nothing, with no profit, because all the money we earned was spent on renting and storage.

But we managed to stay afloat only because we found a partner to support us, like Advans, who is our partner, a strong partner who supports us. They give us the means to pay for trucks and the means for us to carry out our activities.

I believe we will continue moving forward. I think we can reach a production from 2,500 to 5,000 tons of cocoa. Our partner supported us, and we grew. That is why we also give back to our community, which is growing too. It’s a win-win situation.”

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