A boost for the souchet value chain in Niger

The Sustainable Development Goals Partnership Facility (SDGP) has approved a unique project. This project contributes to SDGP's primary aim to support food security and private sector development.

Nuts

Souchet is the French name for tiger nut. In Niger, the quality and the yield from souchet production are low. There is hardly any possibility to process the nuts locally. This results in low prices and equally low profits for farmers. The Chain Booster project wants to boost tiger nut production, processing and marketing in Niger.

The Chain Booster project will focus on:

  • selecting and using better seeds;
  • improving yields and production quality through better agricultural practices;
  • strengthening the organisational capacities of producers;
  • creating jobs in the factory and logistic distribution system.

Chain Booster project partners:

  • Partners for Innovation Niger and Agri Focus Niger will strengthen the farmer organisations and improve the agricultural practices;
  • Triple Trade will boost processing by setting up a tiger nut juice factory;
  • Enitrap will operate the tiger nut juice factory in Niger.

Nuts about nuts

Despite their name, tiger nuts are not nuts. They are underground tubers that grow from grass-like plants. Tiger nuts grow like potatoes and yams and are safe to eat for those with nut allergies. Their nutritional value is very high. To improve food and nutrition security, a new entity will produce and sell tiger nut juice locally in Niger as a result of the project.

Enitrap has been exporting raw tiger nuts to Spain for many years. The nuts are the main ingredient in Horchata de Chufas, a milk-resembling drink. Tiger nuts have many different uses: from flour for bakery products to flakes and oil. Triple Trade will conduct a market study to look for other markets to sell this versatile nut. The aim is to find companies interested in exporting raw tiger nuts to high-end markets. Those companies are more willing to guarantee purchase quantities and better prices.

Sustainable development goals

The SDG Partnership facility (SDGP) helps to achieve sustainable development goals in developing countries:

  • SDG 2: ending hunger
  • SDG 8: decent jobs and economic growth
  • SDG 17: partnerships for the goals.

To reach these goals, it is necessary to work together. That is why SDGP works with public-private partnerships (PPPs) between government, businesses, NGOs and knowledge centres. Find out more about SDGP.

For more about this and other projects, visit our Project Database.