Type: Cooperative
Year of Founding: 2017
Number of Employees: 48, 40 of whom are women
CEO: Ella Inzahbo

Mission: Promote local products, support sustainable agriculture, and grow and process local products while improving the economic performance of women and youth and conserving agricultural production resources

Business Model

AGROTECH was created to support sustainable development in Chad through organic farming and to facilitate the daily consumption of locally grown and processed products. The women’s cooperative specialises in the producing, processing and marketing of agricultural products. AGROTECH practices and promotes agroecological practices to improve the livelihoods of its members, focusing specifically on women and youth. The cooperative focuses its efforts particularly at the local level, as close as possible to its members.

Relationship with Smallholders

AGROTECH supports the initiatives of women and youth in the fight for food security and sustainable development. The cooperative directly builds the capacity of its members through training, innovation and the dissemination of new knowledge and skills. The cooperative is also involved in developing and leading collective projects and consultancy.

Products and Markets

AGROTECH members produce a wide range of vegetables and fruit, such as onions, hibiscus, ginger, tomatoes, okra, oranges and grains such as rice. The members are also processing a variety of the produce into value added products that reduce post-harvest losses, including dried tomatoes, okra and onions, as well as hibiscus wine.

The fresh produce is sold directly from the farms, while processed products are sold in AGROTECH’s own shop which is located in the capital, N’Djamena.

The cooperative operates according to HACCP certification. Its products are analysed at the national Food Quality Control Center (Centre de Contrôle de la Qualité Des Aliments, CCOQDA).

Innovations: Milestones and Expansion Plans

Agroecology is one of the key areas of intervention for AGROTECH to enhance the economic, environmental and social performance impact of its members. For example, this includes selecting seeds that are adapted to climate change by taking into account their conservation and sustainability, in addition to producing and using compost to enrich soils. Another key area of intervention is the promotion of innovation. AGROTECH members are processing agricultural products into by-products by capitalising on tools and technologies that increase the value of raw materials and their shelf life to reduce post-harvest losses.

Accompanied pressures from climatic challenges, including the unsuitability of seeds, flooding in cultivation areas, the late withdrawal of flood waters, early pricing of water points that supply vegetable crops and shorter rainfall durations significantly impact AGROTECH’s activities. These challenges are compounded by a poor access to financial resources.

Success Factors and Lessons Learned

AGROTECH continues to grow by including more members and activities that contribute to strengthening capacities, local food security and inclusion of vulnerable populations. To diversify its activities, increase efficiency and strengthen the sustainability of natural resources, AGROTECH has introduced activities such as market gardening, climate smart seed selection and soil enrichment through compost production.

Additional Resources

• AgroTech Business Profile (EN)
• AgroTech Fiche d'Entreprise (FR)