Christelle Bento

Implemented by COLEAD with the support of the European Union, the AGRINFO programme is a strategic information service designed to help low- and middle-income partner countries understand, anticipate, and adapt to changes in European regulations impacting their agri-food exports. Through its digital platform, newsletter, regulatory digest and interactive Q&A service, AGRINFO gives competent authorities, private sector actors and professional organisations direct access to clear, up-to-date, actionable regulatory intelligence. On 20 May 2025, as part of Europe Week celebrations, the European… +

From 28 to 31 May 2025, COLEAD has participated in the Feria Agroalimentaria in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic’s flagship agri-food event. Organised by public and private institutions every two years, the event brings together over a hundred exhibitors and thousands of visitors, providing an essential platform for promotion, dialogue and cooperation. COLEAD had an institutional stand to inform participants about its activities and partnerships in the country. The aim of this presence is to raise the organisation’s profile and… +

In the heart of Benin, Marlène Kindji is leading a transformation in how vegetables are preserved, valued, and consumed. As the Founder and Director of Badémè Natural Foods, Marlène has made it her mission to ensure that locally grown, perishable produce doesn’t go to waste but instead nourishes communities at home and across the diaspora. Badémè Natural Foods, established in 2017, was born out of a personal and pressing need. Marlène watched her mother, a market gardener, struggle to sell… +

In Barbados and the wider Caribbean, agriculture faces increasing challenges: soil degradation, climate change, rising input costs, and food security concerns. Against this backdrop, entrepreneur Joshua Forte is building solutions that support farmers and gardeners in growing healthier food while protecting the environment. As founder and director of Red Diamond Compost Inc., Joshua Forte leads a social enterprise dedicated to regenerative agriculture, turning organic waste and invasive species into effective, eco-friendly soil and crop inputs.   A vision rooted in soil… +

The CEA-FIRST Consortium identifies key opportunities for strengthened EU-AU collaboration.   As part of the CEA-FIRST project aiming to establish a functional International Research Consortium (IRC) on FNSSA, a mapping report of multistakeholder initiatives (MSIs) active in the field of food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture in Africa and Europe has just been finalized. Conducted as part of Work Package 3, the aim of this mapping exercise is to support the implementation of the IRC by identifying existing multi-stakeholder… +

As part of the ENABEL Guinea-funded programme, ‘Strengthening the resilience of Guinean populations to climate, food and economic shocks through sustainable agricultural development’, COLEAD carried out its first field mission dedicated to the agroecological transition in the Mamou and Kindia regions.   A foundational mission to support local value chains The project, which was launched in 2025, aims to improve the incomes of stakeholders in the potato, pineapple and vegetable farming value chains in a sustainable way, with a particular… +

Dakar, May 2025 – As part of the Fit For Market Plus (FFM+) programme, COLEAD has provided post-training support to O’FRUTTI, a young Senegalese company specialising in mango processing. This intervention aims to structure the company’s quality and traceability management system, building on the knowledge acquired during a recent collective training on food safety principles.   A young and ambitious company with market reach Founded in 2022, O’FRUTTI has quickly positioned itself on the European and local markets by focusing… +

As part of its commitment to the conservation of biodiversity in tropical agricultural systems, COLEAD supports its partners in integrating environmentally sound practices into their production models. In Côte d’Ivoire, this commitment is being realised through a collaboration with the Cooperative of Mango and Cashew of Korhogo (COMAKO) to develop a Wildlife-Flora-Landscape Integrated Management Plan (IMP) under the Fit For Market Plus (FFM+) programme. Already certified by GLOBAL G.A.P., GRASP, SMETA and Rainforest Alliance, COMAKO is now strengthening its alignment… +

As part of the FFM+ programme, COLEAD recently conducted a field mission to provide technical support to the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) in assessing avocado orchard management practices. Although this type of support is usually offered to companies, this initiative was exceptional in that it engaged a producer organisation and used its members’ farms as demonstration plots — an innovative and effective approach.   The mission’s primary objective was to evaluate the implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and provide… +