On Wednesday, November 6, 2024, a team from L’Express du Faso went to the Bobo-Dioulasso fruit and vegetable market, located in the 9th sector of the city. Aim, go ahead and sell sweet potatoes.
The sweet potato is a sweet and nutritious tuber, often loved for its delicious taste and culinary versatility. It is rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber, making it a good choice for a balanced diet. Although sweet potatoes are available year-round, they are most common in late September to early November. It can be used in many ways and adapted to many recipes. In Burkina Faso, it is much more eaten in fat (sweet potato stew), fried (sweet potato frit) or steamed but also in the form of chips. At a very favorable time, the Bobolais want to take advantage of it. This morning November 6, 2024 we went on a trip to the Bobo-Dioulasso fruit and vegetable market. When we arrived, we immediately saw huge piles of sweet potatoes, scattered here and there, outside the market, creating a crowd around. These are the buyers who haggle over the price of sweet potatoes, either to resell them or just eat them with their family. Next to the entrance to the market are several vendors. Currently, this result is increased. Sales are tailored to the specific needs of customers; they also depend on the quality and quantity that the customer wants.
The price of the bag between 5000 FCFA and 10000 FCFA
As in any other field, there is no shortage of problems. Innousa Ouédraogo, a seller of sweet potatoes located outside the market, talks about these problems. According to him, “The problems are mostly poor sales, irregular prices, preservation problems because the potatoes rot quickly if they are exposed to the sun.” The prices of 100kg and 50kg bags are set by agreement between the wholesalers. The retail price of the bags varies from 5,000 FCFA to 10,000 FCFA, it all depends on the quality and variety. ” Unlike Innousa Ouédraogo, Balôgô is a wholesale sweet potato seller, located in the same market. She also tells us about her problems and takes advantage of being attractive to the authorities. For her, “we get our supplies from certain towns in Burkina like Orodara and even outside the country like Mali. I am a wholesaler. We buy directly from the field with trucks and a truck can load twenty to twenty four tons of potatoes. It all depends on the relationships we have with the producers. Supply is not a problem at the moment as we can say that it is sweet potato season here in Bobo. The problems encountered are mainly at the sales level. We often have serious problems selling our products. There are several types of reasons for this poor sale. Firstly, there is a problem of insecurity in some areas which prevents us from going there to sell our products. In addition to this, it should be noted that people do not know much about everything that can be done with sweet potatoes. They only know how to boil it or fry it for consumption. However, you can do many other things with potatoes. We are launching a heartfelt appeal to the government, to help us with sweet potato processing factories in Burkina where we can turn potatoes into chips, flour, etc. “.
Catherine TIANIAGOU
Rachidatou COMPAORE / Interns
