(Ecofin Agency) - In Côte d’Ivoire, the Bafing region will benefit from a FCfa 18 billion project aimed at boosting soya farming. This area of the country, which has lands suitable for the farming of the oilseed crop, will also be the location of a soya to mayonnaise processing plant, Mamadou Coulibaly Sangafowa, Ivorian Minister of Africulture, said during a visit in the region.

While the project has just entered its active phase, the visit of the minister ends up looking like a campaign with a few weeks left to the 25 October election. Mamadou Coulibaly Sangafowa indeed did not miss an opportunity to praise his candidate. “When ADO says he will do something, he does it. He inherited from a devastated agriculture sector. In four years, he set this sector back on track with the help of new reforms. These reforms have made today a positive impact on the populations. So, vote for him massively during the presidential election to enable him go through what he has planned for you” he declared.

Apart from the soya production and processing, the production and marketing supporting project (Propacom-Ouest), which was also launched, could be a convincing argument to sway the populations of the Bafing. This initiative, funded by the Ivorian state and FIDA (International Development Fund for Agriculture) with FCfa 23 billion aims to promote the operation of 20,000 hectares of arable lands and the creation of 200,000 agricultural jobs.