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In less than ten years, Tembédou et Fils, a Senegalese seed company, has gone from sales of 200 million FCFA (400,000 USD) to 2 billion FCFA (4 million USD) thanks to the support of CORAF.

Tembédou et Fils was founded in 2006 by Aladji Tembédou. Thanks to support from CORAF in 2012, the company has gone from buying and reselling seeds to producing and multiplying certified seeds. In addition to processing and exporting seeds to customers in West Africa, Tembédou et Fils also supplies fertilizers to farmers.

The production and marketing of peanut, corn, sorghum, millet and rice seeds are at the heart of the Kaolack seed company. Kaolack is located some 200 kilometers from the Senegalese capital, Dakar.

CORAF supported Tembédou et Fils through the West Africa Seed Program (WASP ), a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

"CORAF trained us in seed legislation and good agricultural practices. Before the arrival of CORAF, we didn't have a good knowledge of cultivation techniques for seed multiplication", explains Mr. Djibril Diop, Director of Tembédou et Fils.

"Back then, it wasn't easy to get access to certified seeds. Thanks to CORAF, we were able to access improved and certified seeds from the Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute."

As part of WASP, seed companies also received advice on how to develop a business plan. By helping Tembédou et Fils to draw up a business plan, CORAF established a roadmap that has enabled the company to significantly expand its activities.

"If we're at this level today It's thanks to the business plan we put in place with the support of CORAF. The plan enabled us to obtain loans from banks."

"Previously, banks and microfinance institutions were reluctant to offer us loans and credit."

In 2018, Tembédou et Fils produced over 1,000 tonnes of peanut seed, 1,200 tonnes of corn and around 800 tonnes of millet. It farms over 1,200 hectares of land for seed production through contracts with local producers.

The company employs five permanent staff, 18 non-permanent staff and 60 temporary staff.

"Today, we earn much more than in the past thanks to the relatively larger market share we have," says Mr. Diop.

The company has recently embarked on a transformation process to diversify its activities.

"We buy peanuts from other producers to process, shell, sort and export. We also have a small artisanal mill that can produce 30 to 40 tons of oil a day, which is not insignificant," said Mr. Diop.

At present, Tembédou et Fils does not export its seeds outside Senegal. They intend to take advantage of harmonized regional seed regulations to export seeds to other West African countries in the near future.

Read also: Harmonization of regional seed regulations: First signs of prosperity for private companies