Orateur
Description
The Burundian economy is structurally weakened, among others, by his huge dependency on few agricultural exported commodities such as coffee, tea, and skins. In a perspective of diversification, newly promising agricultural sub-sectors such as patchouli are assessed. The patchouli is a shaded crop under palm trees, grown in the Imbo region, mainly in theMakamba, Rumonge, Bubanza, and Cibitoke provinces. The main role of the patchouli is due to its essential oils distilled from dried leaves.
An economic analysis of the patchouli value was carried out in 2023 following the value chain analysis for development (VCA4D) approach using the Agri-food analysis (AFA) software. Data required building up operations budgets per actor are collected from various stakeholders involved in the patchouli crop development. These stakeholders include, from upward to downward, inputs suppliers, agricultural growers, companies involved in the distillation process (ELAGA, RUGOFARM, and TANGA OIL) and the exporters as well.
The patchouli VCA4D reveals high value addition, exceeding 98% of the total output. Furthermore, the economic integration ratio exceeding 87% highlights strong linkages with domestic economy through a sustained intermediate consumption demand. The value added (VA) breakdown shows inequalities between distillers benefiting from 23-49% and producers getting 3-18% of this VA. These high shares of value added allocated to upward actors are not however reflected in strong net operating profits (NOP) due to strong depreciation and salaries expenses.
The patchouli yield productivity averaging 3tons/ha is among the lowest in the world. A sensitivity analysis shows that doubling or tripling the current yields would lead, ceteris paribus, to win-win scenariobetween patchouli growers and distillers. These results are reflected in NOP and equivalent producer subsidy (EPS). Investment in patchouli yields through good agricultural practises is a promising way towards patchouli value chain development.
