Côte d’Ivoire: AfDB boosts skills, market access and incomes for women farmers
The farmers are part of a Bank-financed programme supporting more than 300 women-led cooperatives to become more competitive in agricultural markets, build resilience to climate change and improve their livelihoods
ABIDJAN, March 10, 2026 — Less than a minute’s walk from a rural road north of Abidjan, the commercial capital of Côte d’Ivoire, what at first appears to be an ordinary field of shrubs reveals a pathway to a brighter future for thousands of women in the country’s agricultural sector.
The field is planted with cassava, a staple crop in Côte d’Ivoire and a key source of carbohydrates in West African cuisine. Here, a small group of women farmers explain to a visiting delegation from the African Development Bank Group [AfDB] how they have adopted new cultivation methods to cope with limited rainfall. The delegation was led by Dr Jemimah Njuki, the Bank’s Director for Gender, Women and Civil Society.
The farmers are part of a Bank-financed programme supporting more than 300 women-led cooperatives to become more competitive in agricultural markets, build resilience to climate change and improve their livelihoods.
The initiative focuses on Toumodi, a town in central Côte d’Ivoire where farmers often struggle to access commercial markets. Limited storage, processing and transport facilities make it difficult for them to sell their produce efficiently or secure fair prices from buyers.
To address these challenges, the Bank launched the Women-led Staple Food Cooperative Advisory Project, targeting 322 women-led cooperatives. Since its launch in 2022, the programme has positively impacted more than 21,300 women.
Skills development is a core element of the project. More than 1,500 women have received functional literacy training, enabling them to better manage their enterprises and improve profitability.
“The project helped us broaden our thinking and better understand our land,” said Anastasie Kouadio, Chairperson of the Union Vivrière Etraikpa de Toumodi, a participating cooperative.
“We know how to grow our crops, but we wanted to learn how to finance expanding cassava production. What is financial accounting? How do we become financially literate? This project helped reach women farmers who previously could not read or write,” she added.
Through its Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa [AFAWA] initiative, the African Development Bank allocated US$1.5 million to the programme and partnered with UN Women to provide access to finance, leadership development, value addition and skills training.
The support includes specialised training for 200 women in product packaging and labelling, as well as governance and management training for another 400 women involved in cooperative leadership.
The project is also developing an e-commerce digital marketplace for the cooperatives known as “Blaatto”—meaning “come and buy” in the Baoulé language—aimed at expanding market access for their products.
Rising incomes and improved livelihoods
During the visit, Dr Njuki and UN Women Côte d’Ivoire Country Representative Adjaratout “Adji” Fatou Ndiaye met with farmers and cooperative leaders to hear how the programme has affected their lives.
The women proudly showcased improved cassava products developed through the project and said their incomes have increased, enabling many of them to pay school fees for their children.
“You are producing the food that Côte d’Ivoire eats. You are processing the food that Côte d’Ivoire eats,” Njuki told the gathering. “Our role at the Bank, in partnership with UN Women, is to support you.”
“We know how important it is to support women. Through women, our children are educated. Through women, families are better nourished. It is through the hard work of women that villages like this one thrive,” she said.
The farmers expressed hope that the programme will expand to include machinery that can boost productivity and ensure consistency in food processing.
“There is land here. We have the cassava product and we have received entrepreneurship training and coaching,” said Rose Jeannette Koffi of the Les Moissonneuses federation of women-led farming cooperatives. “We are capable of doing even more.”
Earlier, during a meeting with Touhou Godefroy, Secretary-General of Toumodi Prefecture, Njuki described the Women-led Staple Food Cooperative Advisory Project as a catalyst for inclusive transformation.
She said the initiative is helping to foster sustainable, resilient and gender-responsive agricultural growth in Côte d’Ivoire.
Buy your copy of thecooperator magazine from one of our country-wide vending points or an e-copy on emag.thecooperator.news
