A New Beginning for a Malian Mango Company

Established in the Sikasso region in 1997, Société Agrume et Oléagineux du Mali (Mali Citrus Fruit and Oilseeds Company, or AOM) was the first Malian company to export mangoes to Europe by sea. The company seemed to have a bright future ahead of it.

A downturn in the European market, however, led to financial troubles, making it more and more difficult for AOM to cover operating costs while also repaying its bank loans. The financial troubles eventually came to a head, and the bank took possession of the processing center. It seemed like AOM’s story was coming to a close.

But by 2005 AOM secured the necessary financing to reopen its doors and was looking to ensure its future. High-end markets in Europe and the U.S. offer opportunities to earn a higher price for mangoes but they typically require organic certification. Mali is well known for its mangoes and produces a large volume yearly. There are, however, few mango-processing plants in the country that are certified in international organic standards. Most centers are small, informal operations that are unable to process large quantities and do not have the resources to invest in attaining international standards.

Determined to succeed, AOM contacted USAID’s Agricultural Value Chain Initiative Program, which ACDI/VOCA helps to implement under a 3-year, $1 million subcontract from Abt Associates. Mango specialist Pascal Sanou began working with AOM to achieve organic-certified status to compete in western markets. Mango-processing centers like AOM can only attain certified organic status if their mango producers also receive organic certification. Sanou studied the standards for ECOCERT, one of the largest organic certification organizations in the world, and conducted trainings for the smallholder mango producers. Three months later, AOM asked ECOCERT officials to come and audit AOM and the producers. The center successfully passed the rigorous inspection and earned its certification.

The future of AOM again looks bright. In 2005 AOM exported 200 tons of mangoes, and in 2006/2007, they exported 600 tons. They are now set to export 1,600 tons of organic-certified mangoes in 2008—an astonishing increase of 800 percent. AOM rents a mango-conditioning station but with the increase in its production, the company is planning to build a station of its own. AOM’s success has also created more jobs: currently it employs 300 local workers, 80 percent of whom are women. AOM’s largest European client is in Germany, but with the potential of the Sikasso region to produce as much as 6,000 tons of mangoes, AOM will have the capacity to reach a much larger market.

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