About JOULEU

Status of the company: individual company in expansion

Year of registration: 2018

Number of staff: 17, of which 8 are women

Khalifa Thiam, founder and managing director

Khalifa is a passionate young Senegalese agripreneur who combines theory and practice in the field. He holds a bachelor’s degree in applied foreign languages, a professional master’s degree in tourism and hotel business management from Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis, Senegal, and a higher diploma in entrepreneurial management, specialising in agricultural business management, plant and animal production.

Khalifa is also a trainer in employability and soft skills at the Department of Scientific Innovation, Integration, Foresight and Community Service (D2iPS) at Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis. He is also a moderator and speaker at national and international entrepreneurial events.

Business model

Mission: to improve the quality and availability of horticultural products by using agroecological practices.

Vision: to contribute to achieving self-sufficiency in horticultural products in Senegal and the sub-region, while promoting agroecological practices and integrating digital transformation into horticultural production.

JOULEU was created to address the issues faced by local Senegalese producers to sell their production. JOULEU – which means “trader, intermediary” or “facilitator” in Wolof – was designed to act as a broker between producers and markets, mainly the Casamance market in southern Senegal.

Since its creation, the company has also developed its own horticultural production business.

The company meets a dual need: that of local producers looking for market access for their harvests, and that of local and regional demand for fresh fruit and vegetables.

JOULEU operates in a competitive environment made up of large agricultural companies operating in Senegal and the sub-region.

Strong relationships with small farmers, cooperatives…

JOULEU works with around ten smallholder producers, of which 6 are women, who work in the area where the company operates. The company markets all their produce and provides them with agricultural inputs and technical support to guarantee the quality of their harvests.

In addition to the support provided by the company to their partner producers, JOULEU also supports young people and women’s groups in the communities where they operate by providing them with training in entrepreneurship, business management, etc.

JOULEU also accompanies village women to secure support from institutions and vocational training centres.

Products and markets

JOULEU produces and markets up to 300 tonnes of horticultural products per season, mainly onions and potatoes (which account for 80% of products marketed).

The company’s diverse range of products also includes cucumbers, okra, watermelon, chilli peppers and tomatoes.

JOULEU products are sold on the local market. Part of the onion and potato harvest is also sold on the regional market (in Guinea-Bissau and Mali).

JOULEU operates according to the standards of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), an alliance of companies, trade unions and voluntary organisations that supports the improvement of working conditions throughout the supply chain.

Innovations: milestones and expansion plans

JOULEU is constantly seeking to improve and develop their horticultural business. The company currently has a production area of 5.5 hectares, divided between three sites. For the past year, the company has been intensifying and diversifying their activities. They are working with farm mechanisation and farm design professionals to identify and implement the best alternatives. The company is also investing in a ‘drip irrigation’ system, which consists of a network of pipes with built-in dowels placed in the ground. This method of irrigation enables water to be applied directly to the base of the plants, limiting the risk of evaporation and saving water.

The company is planning to set up their own agricultural greenhouses for an all year-round production. Greenhouse production enables higher yields, improved quality and uninterrupted product availability.

JOULEU is positioning themselves as “Africa’s organic cybermarket” by integrating digital tools into horticultural production and marketing methods. The company’s products can be purchased via social networks such as Instagram.

The company faces logistical challenges regarding road transport, particularly to Mali and Guinea-Bissau. They work with their partners to transport and market their products, particularly in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. JOULEU is in charge of the transport up to the town of Ziguinchor, Senegal, where the horticultural products are collected by the company’s commercial partners. The latter take over the transport to Bissau, including customs clearance and compliance with Guinea-Bissau regulations.

JOULEU is currently working on a strategic plan to develop their business over the next five years. The company is looking to increase their production capacity in order to meet local demand for horticultural products, which exceeds their current production capacity. To achieve this, the company wants to expand the network of smallholders with whom they works (up to 100 growers) and increase they farming area (up to 15 to 20 hectares).

The company also aims to create an organic market gardening reference centre covering an area of 5,000m² to promote organic farming by introducing the young people they support to good agroecological practices.

Success factors and lessons learned

JOULEU is a social enterprise that aims to have a positive impact on the community. They work with smallholders in the community in which they operate. They also mentor and support young people and women’s groups in the area close to their operations, helping them to develop their autonomy through the acquisition of agroecological and business management knowledge and skills.

One of the factors behind JOULEU’s success has been their efforts to diversify crops. While the company initially produced onions and potatoes, it has gradually begun to grow other crops outdoors, such as okra, chillies, peppers etc. They are actively seeking to introduce large-scale greenhouse cultivation to further diversify their production, in particular with tomatoes, aubergines, beetroot, etc.

JOULEU has developed their presence on local and regional markets through commercial prospection and e-commerce.

JOULEU’s promoter, Khalifa, has won several national and international entrepreneurship programmes that have contributed to the success of the company. He notably took part in the AGreenLab programme, funded by the European Union and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), which supported 100 start-ups and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Senegal and Burkina Faso in the agri-food and renewable energy sectors. He has also participated in the Senegalese Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (PSEJ) and the Virtual Academy for the Promotion of Renewable Energies at the University of Nuertingen-Geislingen, Germany. He has also received support from the Belgian development agency ENABEL through the PEM WECCO programme, which promotes entrepreneurial mobility between Belgium and Senegal.

Additional Resources

• JOULEU Business Profile (English)
• JOULEU Fiche d'entreprise (français)