Cooperative profile · Chad
Guéra Women’s Cooperative
47 women members across three villages in the Guéra massif, central Chad. Producers of chebe powder and ambunu leaves.
Members
47 women
Villages
Three (Mongo region)
Products
Chebe powder, ambunu leaves
Partner since
2021
Premium paid
+22% above gate
The cooperative
The Guéra Women’s Cooperative is anchored in the rocky highlands of the Guéra massif, around the town of Mongo in central Chad. Forty-seven women across three villages run it as a single-purpose cooperative, chebe and ambunu, no other crops. Several of the founding members are recognised village authorities on chebe preparation; the recipe is taught informally to younger members during the off-season.
What they make
The cooperative produces a chebe mix that follows the traditional Guéra recipe (Croton zambesicus seeds and ambunu leaves, lightly bound with cherry-bark tree resin and ground stone-fine) and a separate single-ingredient ambunu leaf for buyers who blend their own. Both are hand-sieved, vacuum-bagged in food-grade pouches, and sealed before they leave the village.
What our partnership looks like
- 22 percent above the regional gate price, set each season after first-harvest data.
- 40 percent of each season pre-financed so the cooperative can pay collectors at gather, not at sale.
- Deep well dug in 2022 in Bidjir village, replacing a 1.4 km daily walk for water during the dry season.
- School kits for member children (uniforms, notebooks, pens) every September.
- Grain reserve store co-financed in 2023 to buffer the lean months between the chebe season and the millet harvest.
How we audit
One of our co-founders or a trusted regional auditor visits each season to verify drying conditions, weighing scales, and packaging hygiene. Each shipment is sample-tested by a Bamako lab on heavy metals and microbial load before US clearance, with a US-side lab spot-check on the first lot of each new season.