The tangy and rich in vitamin C Madd fruit, eaten fresh or processed, is a crucial source of income for thousands of families who live off its harvest in the region of Casamance, south of Senegal.
In the village of Thiobon, over 450 kilometres south of Dakar, local producers are sustaining the sector and thanks to a 2024 Protected Geographical Indication, Madd is becoming more widely available.
Backed by the World Intellectual Property Organisation, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation and the French Development Agency, this classification is bringing new hope to an entire community.
From Dakar’s markets to Casamance villages, people are willing to pay more than 14,000 CFA francs this year – just over €20 – for a sack of the fruit.
“The fixed price works well for us. If there’s a lot or a little amount of Madd, people still buy it at the same price, so that’s an advantage for us who harvest it," explained 29-year-old Madd picker, Lansana Mané.
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Madd is only harvested for three months a year and processing remains largely artisanal, which is a challenge for producers.
“We don’t yet have large-scale systems, so we rely on a few freezers in our processing units,” said Maimouna Sambou Diedhiou, president of the Association for the Protection and Promotion of the Madd Geographical Indication of Casamance.
“Manual work limits production to small quantities, making year-round operations difficult. One of the biggest challenges is industrialising the process and creating systems to preserve semi-processed products, like Madd nuts.”
According to industry insiders, the Madd sector generates an average of 500 million CFA francs, more than €750,000 each year.
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