Benin Processing Plants: Pineapple, Cassava, Shea and Soybean

Benin has a coastline on the Gulf of Guinea and borders Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo, and its rainfall differs between the bimodal south and the unimodal north. Cassava is scarcely found in the drier north and becomes more important towards the humid south, where it is processed into gari and tapioca. Pineapple is one of the sectors targeted for trade support, and fresh pineapple is perishable and bulky, so juice extraction and concentration are one way to add value where processors can source the fruit.

Shea trees grow naturally in the savanna areas of West Africa, shea almond is another sector targeted for trade support, and the nuts are traditionally boiled and sun-dried to separate the kernel before butter is made. Soybean is produced in Benin and can be pressed for oil, and rice is sown in both the southern and northern rainfall areas. Parboiling, the partial boiling of rice in the husk before milling, protects the grain from breaking. Drying is a step in many of these chains, from cassava chips to shea kernels to herbs and spices.

FAO describes the port of Cotonou as a hub of regional trade, which shapes the logistics of any processing project. Possible users include starch and flour makers, juice processors, shea butter producers, oil millers, rice mills and cooperatives that wish to move from raw sales to semi-finished products.