Technical support to the "Women processing activities" component of the Coconut rehabilitation project in Ghana, 19 to 27 March 2002

The purpose of the mission was three-fold: - Assess work under way in the "support to women processing activities" component - Reach an agreement for finalizing the mission report by Alexia Prades - Discuss Project realignments. Two project sites were visited: the Aiyinasi demonstration site and the Allawolley small-scale extraction site. These two sites were highly informative and provided the expert with a precise idea of the problems encountered and of approaches or solutions that might be proposed. - The Aiyinasi site is now well installed and it has been possible to validate some of the innovations tested (Danmens grater, improved CIRAD furnace). However, introduction of the mechanical press has not led to an improvement in the extraction rate. As this site is located outside a production zone, nut supplies and contacts with processors are difficult. It is therefore in the interests of the project to move "support to women processing activities" to the heart of the production zone. - At Allawolley, near Tikobo, dozens of processors are concentrated along a river for their extraction operations. The site is frequented by all the operators involved in the small-scale oil production sector, from owners of coconut plantations, to traders buying the oil, along with processors and service providers. The site seems to be well suited for use in the following fields: -Carrying out a survey-diagnosis of the processing sector (description of activities, typology of processors and other stakeholders, identification of problems and constraints encountered, inventory of the needs expressed). -Talking to processors and other stakeholders about their objectives and strategies, and about the solutions the Project could propose. -And, lastly, starting to introduce these innovations (testing in the true environment), before wider distribution. New orientations : - "Support to women processing activities" component: this subject has already been largely covered. In addition, the expert emphasized the importance of working on quality aspects, which are closely linked to marketing and processor income aspects (improvement of their share of added value from processing). - "Disease containment" component: its success will largely depend on the true involvement of producers in the early-warning system, hence on the Project (and NGOs) increasing their awareness and training them. - Lastly, the expert suggests that the Project take a greater interest in intercrops in new plantations: even if farmers spontaneously plant under coconut, Project supervision could help them to choose the most efficient technical solutions.