Senegal: Sonacos finally starts collecting peanuts in the south of the country
Ziguinchor, Senegal (PANA) - The first truckloads of peanuts have begun arriving at the Intermediate Reception Centre (CRI) in Kolda, southern Senegal, set up by Sonacos.
Since 29 December, trucks from the region's collection areas have been streaming in to offload peanuts.
As of 2 January, this year, more than a dozen trucks have already been registered, said Mamadou Diémé, head of the CRI, adding that the total number of trucks currently exceeded 200 tonnes.
He said the pace of arrival of the trucks created optimism for the future, welcoming measures taken by the government which, according to him, have now enabled a consensus to be reached among the various actors in the sector on the ground.
He emphasized that the challenge of this campaign was above all to save the economic fabric of Senegal, adding that since peanuts were one of the economic lungs of the country, leaving it in the hands of certain people to export it would be more than suicidal.
“The challenge of this campaign is not to destroy the economic fabric of our country. If we let our seeds go into the hands of third parties who are not from the country, it will be a disaster.
“Between Sonacos and the operators, we are partners who must work together, hand in hand, for the benefit of the country. If one side shoots for the personal interest and the other for the general interest, it won't work," he said.
The beginning of seed unloading at the CRI in Kolda puts an end to the uncertainty at Sonacos, where doubt had been created because no seed had been collected so far since the beginning of the marketing year of the sector.
And for good reason, private national and foreign operators, especially Chinese, have entered the production areas and are offering better prices than those set by the government.
The official price set by the state is 210 F CFA per kg, while the Chinese offer between 250 and 275 F CFA to get producers to sell their seeds to them.
Thus, the collection points set up by Sonacos in the various localities of the country have been idle since the beginning of the season.
Sonacos workers even recently went on a nationwide strike to alert the government to the danger hanging over their heads, aware that if this situation persists, Sonacos oil mills will not be running and their jobs will be threatened as a result.
-0- PANA MAD/BEH/MTA/RA 5Jan2020
