Gebana
The mango tree in Tapogodéni is the cultural center of the village. Photo courtesy of gebana.com
Name: Gebana Burkina Faso
Location: Burkina Faso
Number of Farming Families: 5,571
Founded: 2006
Source For: Dried mango and cashews
www.gebana.com
Gebana is a Fair Trade organization that purchases organic mangoes and cashews from 17 different rural co-ops and associations in the South of Burkina Faso.
Women serve as the majority of the workforce, and Fair Trade social premiums have benefited the entire community through adult literacy classes, new water sources, bicycle purchases, and cereal banks.
Cashews and mangoes are processed in a factory owned by the co-op, which employs hundreds of local workers.
Although Gebana’s products are certified fair trade, the company recognized that labels and certifications are merely a starting point for those whose mission is focused on long-term, sustainable transformation. While the fair trade model requires that buyers pay farmers a premium on top of an above-market price for their products, Gebana’s model takes this practice one step further. They have created a “sharing model,” whereby a percentage of sales revenues and shares of company profits are distributed amongst all participants in the Gebana network.
Most companies, whether fair trade or conventional, set their sale prices well after they’ve defined their profit margins and taken all other factors into account, thereby ensuring high profitability. Gebana has developed its own model: the company pays ten percent of the sales price achieved in its online shop to the farming families, on top of the raw materials price and any premiums. These payments are distributed among all the farming families that supply Gebana, including those that provide products for the bulk retail business. In 2022, the company paid out a total of over $1,000,000 in revenue shares directly to farming families in the global South.
They created an annual profit-sharing program with all employees in the Gebana network, whether in Europe or the global South. This approach creates a closed circular trade system, where if the entire system performs well, profits are shared amongst all of Gebana’s staff, investors, and customers in its online shop.
Learn more: The Story Behind Our Alternative Trade Partnership with Gebana Burkina Faso
