IMPACT STORIES

“Africa must feed itself.”

An entrepreneur with a vision in Burkina Faso

When asked to name one of his key strengths as a business owner, Siaka Sanon, the founder of AgroServ Industrie, Burkina Faso is quick to respond. “Patience,” he answers before adding that optimism and a steadfast vision have allowed him to navigate challenges which might have made a less resilient entrepreneur give up.

“I come from a family where my mother, a cereal producer, had a big influence on me,” says Siaka. “She was a strong woman. Her efforts paid my school fees.” After graduating with a degree in IT Management, Siaka joined his mother’s business, modernizing and managing it for ten years until she died. In 2008, he relaunched it as AgroServ. “I always had a strong work ethic,” he says. “I wanted to instill the pride in work which my mother gave me, in others.”

AgroServ focuses on the production and processing of agricultural products including maize. The company is located in the industrial zone of Kossodo, in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. It offers high quality products made from locally grown maize and has two automatic production lines with a production capacity of 50 tons per day each. The company has 120 employees and works with a network of more than 6,000 small producers from all over Burkina Faso.

“Our relationship with farmers is very important,” says Siaka. “We work closely with them to increase productivity and provide them with training and support. AgroServ’s processing units ensure that the harvested grains are cleaned, sorted and graded before being packaged and sold domestically and internationally.

“A core focus of our work is on sustainability and supporting local producers,” says Siaka. We aim to improve food security and increase productivity in the region.” Our relationship with farmers, though, is not without its challenges.”