Our Focus
Siwa Trading International, is focused on import and export activities in the agricultural sector of Benin which accounts for 70-80% of export earnings and 25% of GDP.
Soybeans is our priority focus. Production in Benin has increased from 73,000 tons to 257,000 tons over the ten-year period to 2020, but compared to market leaders such as Brazil, where yields reach more than 3 tonnes per hectare, Benin yields despite efforts to date are still in the range of 1.5 – 1.8 Tonnes per Kilo.
Soy is a critical staple food in China, as a result the demand for soyabeans as a foodstuff is rising annually as the population grows and incomes increase. This demand cannot be met domestically, and China imported more than 30 million tonnes of Soya beans in 2020.
Our Strategy
SIWA will work with local co-operatives to source high quality soyabeans for export to China.
The strategy includes:
The identification of suitable Soybean Producer Cooperatives (SPCCs).
Implementation of Production Support (training in good harvesting and post-harvest practices to reduce losses in the field and in storage from Chinese agricultural experts)
Stock mobilisation/collection committees will be set up, central stores at the district level will be operating. As stocks of soybeans are mobilised, they will be transported to Cotonou by SIWA
To ensure quality, producers will be systematically identified by a system of bar codes, provided by the National Agency for Standardisation, Metrology and Quality Control (ANM) attached to each packaging of each producer to allow provenance and tracing of product at destination. Close monitoring will allow reduction in impurities and foreign bodies in final product.
Funds will be made available by SIWA to purchase the final product from the relevant co-operatives under standardised contract, requiring compliance with UNPS protocols.
The costs associated with the transport and packaging of the final product to delivery in China will be SIWA’s responsibility.
Our Vision
The intention is to develop that strategy further over time tin order to access significantly higher production volumes over time, acting as an aggregator with co-operatives, adding treatments to grade wash and package the resulting volumes for shipment to SIWA’s off takers in China.
Together with its close association with co-operatives in terms of product sourcing, SIWA plans to enter into a public-private partnership, between the Government of Benin (GOB), SIWA and leading seed producing, agricultural machinery and fertiliser companies in China to provide an integrated next generation roadmap that will underpin a dramatic increase in yields to what we estimate is an achievable 2.5-3.0 Tonnes per hectare over the medium term, up from the 1.5-1.8 T/hectare range currently available.
A primary challenge of the Benin Soya value chain is access to quality improved Soya Seeds, together with access to complimentary fertiliser products and irrigation equipment, this would substantially improve the productivity of farmers and co-operatives. Also once harvested soya beans are vulnerable to significant post-harvest losses due to storage conditions and pests. It is estimated that Benin requires 6,000 Tonnes of advanced seeds annually.
Based on our integrated package of cutting-edge irrigation equipment, the supply of locally classified seed and specially formulated fertiliser products; Siwa’s advanced soya seed adoption and transformation package (ASSAT) we believe will be a critical to driving dramatically increased productivity. We believe Benin has the capacity to double local Soya bean production to nearer 500,000 Tonnes within the next 10 years.
Our Program
Siwa’s proposed program includes:
Improving productivity by transitioning farmers from open-pollinated to improved hybrid seed varieties.
Reduce post-harvest losses.
Expand access to complimentary fertiliser and equipment sourced from China.
Expand access to credit, inputs, and stability in demand through improved China market access.
We will provide in due course zero-interest “equipment+seed+fertiliser package” in a further extension of the partnership that will allow Soya farmers payback as they supply us. Driving increased access to these integrated packages improves productivity and working conditions and raises local incomes.
We will provide sample hybrid seed for validation by the Benin government to conform to local certification standards and for demonstration plots and facilitate field training with equipment and fertiliser.
We aim to build a network of franchised farmer dealers to advance the acceptance of integrated high-quality inputs.
We will provide access to Chinese expertise, sending several designated workers per region for advanced training in China.
The improved postharvest plants capabilities will include automated seed cleaning, treating and packaging as well as gravity sorting and grading, which at full capacity will provide much needed permanent skilled employment locally in Benin.
