As part of the upcoming launch of its 60th campaign on the theme of “hunger for justice”, a press tour was organized in Togo by the German NGO Brot für die Welt (Bread for the World), the October 13 to 20. The purpose of this trip is to inform the German media landscape about the different initiatives and projects carried out by the Bread for the World partner organizations.

In Togo, this trip targeted various projects including those of OADEL and ETD. Indeed, one of the priorities of this German tour is the analysis of food security, value chains, processing and marketing of local products. The tour aims to measure the challenges of finding a local market for quality products, despite the competition of imported products. To do this, the rice value chain has been particularly targeted.

Visits were organized in collaboration with ETD to set the scene by meeting structures such as the CCIT and WANEP but also and especially to visit lowlands and to meet rice producers and processing units.

The visit to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Togo (CCIT) took place on the morning of October 16 and it was mainly to exchange with the CCIT on the activities it leads in promotion agribusiness and support companies to players in the agricultural and agri-food sector.

The afternoon of October 16 was spent visiting a 21-hectare lowland site in Amou Oblo prefecture and operated by two tontines members of the Amou Oblo rice ESOP. On the spot, the press delegation led by Mrs. Johanna Dienst (PPLM) was able to talk with the producers and get their impressions on the support provided by ETD thanks to the financing of PPLM and other financial partners. The questions focused on the ESOP model; the link between the ESOP and the producers; the support provided and its impact on the daily life of the producer; the difficulties and challenges facing producers.

As for the visit to the processing unit selected for the occasion, it took place on Wednesday, October 17, 2018 at ESOP Agou SARL. The visit started at 09.20 with the arrival of the German delegation of 11 people. After a quick turnaround, the floor was given to the “Agricultural Programs Manager” and the “ETD SME and TPE Support Officer”. The latter presented the context of the PPLM mission and gave indications on the support given to the ESOPs and the results recorded.

The members of the delegation were very interested and asked a number of questions, some of which related to the difficulties faced by ESOPs in the process of consolidation. Other questions concerned the number of developed fields and the variety of rice used for the production of “Délice” rice. Other points of attention were the variations of Riz Délice (long grain, broken, parboiled, …) and the other varieties of local rice in Togo. German partners and journalists were also interested in the prices of all these local rice on the market.

Following this series of interactive exchanges, the manager of ESOP Agou presented the rice ESOP and explanations continued with the visit of the ESOP for a better understanding of the transformation process.

Finally, visits were made to the Avétonou market and a rice field was visited in the area. The mission of the day ended with the meeting of the tontine Assilassimé, a tontine of 11 people (including 06 women), in the village of Dolohoé-Séva Cope.

At the ETD level, the press trip of the PPLM delegation continued with the visit of Délice rice outlets on Thursday 18th October. It ended with the visit of the Port of Lomé and Lomé Container Terminal (LCT), Saturday, October 20, 2018.