Tigoun

? BY REDUCING CEREALS POST-HARVEST LOSSES IN THE AREA, WE COULD RESOLVE 1/5 OF THE MALNUTRITION CASES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA = 48M AMONG 230M MALNOURISHED PEOPLE (SOURCE : FAO)

? Tigoun offers Sub-Saharan African farmers the FIRST EFFICIENT, ECOLOGICAL AND AFFORDABLE LONG CONSERVATION BAG.
Our solution improves both their food security and income, while addressing the pollution coming from the massive use of plastic in the area.

Elevator pitch : https://drive.google.com/file/...

Our project addresses the issue of post-harvest losses during the storage of agricultural commodities by producers in developing countries, starting with Madagascar.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, post-harvest losses are estimated at an average of 37% (AFDB), for an amount of $4 billion each year just for cereals. FAO estimates that these lost food items could cover the minimum annual needs of 48 million people, among 230 million malnourished people in Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, current bags are made of plastic. They represent a serious environmental and health concern.

There are nearly 500 million small producers in the world (Source : Rabobank) who face this problem.  

We start with Madagascar and its 8 million small producers (Source : Mondial Bank and Malagasy government) struggling with post-harvest storage losses.

Our first target is Malagasy maize and pulse producers because of their highest loss rates, especially due to insect attacks. It represents around 1,3M farmers (Source : last agricultural census from Malagasy government). 

Tigoun is the first long-term storage bag that is both efficient and ecological

Our innovation is based on three pillars :

1/Efficient long-term preservation
Thanks to our ultra-hermetic technology, commodities are protected from insect attacks, moisture, and mold. Insects are killed by suffocation, while a water barrier system prevents ambient moisture from humidifying the commodities and then avoids mold.

2/Eco-friendly
We’ve chosen renewable raw materials that are biodegradable. We also banned biomaterials that involve food competition. With our preservation technology, no pesticide or any toxic chemical treatments such as fumigation are required. That’s one of our core values, considering that 4.4 million metric tons of plastic end up in the seas and oceans each year in Africa (Source : UN), while environmental insanity causes more than 2.2 million deaths per year in Africa (Source : WHO), not to mention animal deaths.

3/Ease of use
The use of Tigoun bags don’t require any specific skill, nor any infrastructure such as electricity. The choice of a flexible bag allows easy handling and transport. It has been developed with Malagasy farmers and therefore fits their need and local realities.

We start with Madagascar and its 8 million small producers (Source : Mondial Bank and Malagasy government) struggling with post-harvest storage losses.

Our first target is Malagasy maize and pulse producers because of their highest loss rates, especially due to insect attacks. It represents around 1,3M farmers (Source : last agricultural census from Malagasy government). 

We started the project with a field study in Madagascar :
-Feedback from 50 different stakeholders working on the field with farmers (NGO’s, Ministry of Agriculture, WFP, European Union Delegation, FAO, etc…) -200 Malagasy farmers from 15 different regions interviewed
They’ve all confirmed the need and the relevance of our solution to address it.

Bibliography on post-harvest storage losses in Madagascar also highlights these issues, such as the ASARA project by the UE or NGO’s studies.

Our solution enables farmers to store their crops from one harvest to the next one with nearly 0% loss. It improves both their food security and income, as they're given the opportunity to store their crops to wait for the best time to sell it at the best price.

"Support small-scale producers with access to inputs, capital, and
knowledge to improve yields while sustaining productivity of land and
seas" :

Our solution enables small-scale Sub-Saharan African producers to store their crops from one harvest to the next one with nearly 0% loss, compared to 20% current loss average.
It improves both their food security and income, as they're given the
opportunity to store their crops to wait for the best time to sell it at
the best price.

Current alternatives offered to farmers regarding their storage are :

1/Woven polypropylene bag
This is the storage bag currently used in Madagascar. It has also widely spread in whole Sub-Saharan Africa. This bag doesn’t have any conservation properties and is therefore responsible of major losses during post-harvest storage (average of 20%, up to 50%).
Moreover, polypropylene comes from oil, and is not biodegradable, nor recycled in Madagascar. Thus, it has a huge environmental impact, in addition to health issues due to micro-plastics pollution (woven polypropylene).

2/Woven polypropylene bag and insecticide powder
It’s expensive, not very efficient, and harmful for health and environment.

3/Immediate sale (no storage)
Farmers sell their crops right after the harvest, when prices are at their lowest, because they can’t store them in good conditions.

4/Plastic conservation bag (not eco-friendly)

Companies such as GrainPro, Vestergaard, or AtoZ, offer conservation bag for long-term storage in developing countries. But all their products are made of oil-based plastic and aren’t biodegradable.

Tigoun is the first efficient,ecological and affordable long-term storage bag.

There's three main causes of post-harvest storage losses in developing countries, and our solution adresses theses causes :

1/Insect infestation
Our bag includes an airtight material that prevents ambient oxygen to enter in the bag. Insects are therefore killed by suffocation, once they've consumed oxygen initially available in the bag (which is very reduced because you remove almost all the air when you close the bag)

2/Moisture and mold
Our bag also includes a material that prevents ambient moisture to enter in it. Thus, harvests remain dry (<13% relative humidity) in the bag along the whole storage duration, avoiding mold.

3/Rodents
Rodents detect crops by their smell. As our bag is airtight, there's no smell coming out of it. That's why it's very difficult for rodents to spot.

Instruction manual to seal the bag (in Malagasy), our closing system is totally reversible, making our bag reusable during a long time :

Crops conservation based on oxygen and water vapour barrier systems is a proven technology. However, it has not been spread in developing countries where woven polypropylene bag (not hermetic) is still the only standard.

Exemple of scientific publication on the topic :
Jonfia-Essien, William A. & Navarro, Shlomo & Dator, J. (2008). Effectiveness of hermetic storage in insect control and quality preservation of cocoa beans in Ghana.

What's new in our product concerns the materials used. We used eco-friendly materials. Our first version is made of 80% renewable and biodegradable materials, and we're in final development stage for the next version that reaches 100%.

We also developed a new business model and approach to make sure all small farmers can have access to our solution.

Our impact is twofold:

1/ UN's SDG  1, 2, 4, 8, and 10
Reducing post-harvest losses in sub-Saharan Africa

-Post-harvest grain losses in sub-Saharan Africa = annual needs of 48M people (FAO), i.e. about 20% of the malnourished people in the area (around 230M people). These loss represent $4 billion a year.

-32% of total food produced in sub-Saharan Africa is lost, including 20% of grain production lost (FAO)

-Our solution limits grain losses to less than 1%.

2/UN's SDG 12, 13, 14
Ecological solution

-Bags currently used in sub-Saharan Africa are almost exclusively made of plastic (woven polypropylene), which is petroleum-based and non-biodegradable.
In Madagascar alone, our solution could save 8,400T of plastic per year if all these bags were replaced by ours.

-Moreover, our solution does not require any chemical products, unlike traditional powder insecticide or fumigation solutions.

-Currently served : 9 000

-In one year : 60 000

-In five years : 6 Million

Next year
+10 000 rural households benefiting from our solution in Madagascar (60 000 people)

Within the next five years
+1 million rural households benefiting from our solution (6 million people)

1/High working capital requirements

2/Investment to finance the growth

1/High working capital requirements :

• Negotiation with clients on payment terms
• New operations in countries where seasons are opposite to Madagascar in order to smooth income over the entire year
• Debts (loan) or fundraising

2/Investment to finance the growth

• Debts (loan) or fundraising

Full-time staff : 2

Part-time staff : 4

Enki BARACHE | CEO and co-founder | General Engineer from Centrale Lyon (top 5th French engineering university)

- Franco-Malagasy, bilingual
- Formerly responsible for the development of a new startup incubator in Togo (Energy Generation)
- General engineer, specialized in environment and entrepreneurship

Franco-Malagasy, Enki grew up in France and went to Madagascar every year since he was a child. He was shocked by the country's extreme poverty, which contrasts both with its immense potential and what he saw in France.

As his grandfather comes from a rural village where agriculture is the main activity, he saw storage losses issues and the consequences on farmers’ lives. He’s realized how critical the situation was and has decided to create Tigoun to solve this issue.

He’s bilingual Malagasy and his country knowledge put him on track to develop a targeted cutting-edge solution.

Gauthier PERRIN | CFO and co-founder | General Engineer from Centrale Lyon (top 5th French engineering university)
- 1 year rural experience in Madagascar
- Start-up experience

Emeline Lévêque | CTO | AgroParisTech Engineer (top 1 French agronomy university)
- 1 year experience in development NGOs in Madagascar
- Double degree in agricultural engineering/ecology

Tiana RAKOTONDRAZAKA - COO

- 30 years of field experience in rural areas in Madagascar
- 3 companies created in Madagascar
- Bilingual French-Malagasy

Tigoun's team with a customer/field ambassador (National farmer cooperative)

From left to right : Enki CEO of Tigoun, Cooperative's technician, Heritiana COO of Tigoun, Cooperative's head

Our partners includes :

-150 Malagasy farmers cooperative
Customer and local ambassador

-20 NGOs
Customer and field ambassador (raising awareness among rural household)
Ex : Catholic Relief Services, WHH, Action contre la Faim, etc...

-3 UN's agencies in Madagascar : FAO, WFP and FIDA
FAO : customer and field ambassador
FIDA : customer and field ambassador
WFP : technical advisors

-GIZ (German cooperation), European Union Delegation in Madagascar
Technical advisors and field ambassador

-Malagasy ministry of Agriculture
Field ambassador

We have two different business models :

This business model falls in two parts :

1/ Part of the selling price is paid directly by the beneficiary
i.e. the farmers, through the sale of the bags.

2/ The other part is covered by the printing of sponsored content on the bags, by :
-companies with an acquisition need among farmers, and who also have an interest in associating themselves with a large-scale project with a high environmental and social impact as part of their CSR policy.
Ex : Telco companies

-awareness campaigns by Malagasy government or UN's agencies such as WHO
Ex : The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Madagascar on 20 March.
In order to halt the development of the epidemic, the spread of
the use of barrier gestures among the greatest number of people is essential.
Unfortunately, traditional means of communication do not
are not adapted in rural areas, where more than 80% of the population lives.
Tigoun therefore decided to make use of its expertise and its network
distribution in rural areas for :
1/ Printing barrier gestures on Tigoun bags
2/ Spread this information and raise awareness among the rural population by
partnership with specialized field actors (NGOs, WHO, etc...)

B/ For NGOs, UN's agencies, government's program, etc...
These type of customer pay the entire price of the bag

1/ Be part of Solve community and benefits form this incredible network of advisors, opportunities, etc...

2/ Funding
As we're early stage, grant funding is a key to secure our development process

3/Visibility and legitimacy as Solve is a world-renowned program