Top Fresh Produce Exporters in Chad — Sesame, Cristal of Chad Gum Arabic, Dates & Groundnuts

ABNACO International Export Tchad is one of Chad's most active agricultural commodity exporters, specialising in sesame seeds, gum arabic, and groundnuts for export to India, Nigeria, West Africa, and European markets. The company sources from trusted farmer networks across Chad's southern agricultural belt, applying cleaning, sorting, and quality grading at its N'Djamena processing facility.

All ABNACO products meet international quality and safety standards, with sesame exported at purity ≥99.5% and aflatoxin B1 ≤2 ppb for EU-grade shipments. Gum arabic is sorted and cleaned to remove bark and foreign matter, meeting food-grade E414 specifications. Minimum order quantities start from 1 metric tonne with bulk orders accepted at competitive FOB N'Djamena or CIF Douala pricing.

Cristal Gum Export is the primary exporter of the 'Cristal of Chad' branded premium gum arabic, operating in partnership with the ITC-supported gum arabic sector development programme. The company sources Acacia senegal gum from the Kanem, Batha, and Salamat regions and applies multi-stage processing including hand sorting, mechanical cleaning, and optical sorting.

Cristal of Chad gum arabic achieves viscosity ≥120 cP (25% solution, 20°C), nitrogen content ≤0.1%, and optical rotation meeting USP and BP pharmacopoeia standards. The company targets direct export relationships with EU beverage companies, pharmaceutical excipient distributors in Germany and France, and US food ingredient importers.

STEA is a multi-commodity agricultural trading company covering Chad's three primary export commodity categories: sesame, cotton (coordinated through COTONTCHAD), and dates. The company has operational relationships with aggregation points in Mandoul (sesame), Kanem (dates), and the COTONTCHAD ginning zones.

For sesame, STEA exports 8,000–12,000 tonnes per season through Douala Port. For dates (Borno and Kanem varieties), the company exports 500–1,000 tonnes per year to Libya, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia, with a small volume of premium Kanem dates air-freighted to EU specialty food importers.

The Kanem Dates Cooperative aggregates dates from palm oases around Lake Chad, producing Borno, Deglet Nour-type, and local Chadian varieties. Kanem dates are prized in regional markets for their dense flesh and concentrated sweetness. The cooperative is working with the EIF-supported Chad date value chain programme to upgrade drying, packaging, and traceability.

Dates are dried to 20–25% moisture, hand-sorted, and packed in 5 kg, 10 kg, and 20 kg cardboard boxes. Phytosanitary certificates from DPV confirm freedom from Batrocera date fly. Export markets include Libya, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and a growing EU specialty food niche in France, Germany, and Belgium.

SSBE sources unrefined shea butter and moringa leaf powder from women's cooperative networks in Mayo-Kebbi East and Logone Occidental regions of southern Chad. Wild shea trees produce nuts with high stearic acid content (≥42%) valued by EU chocolate manufacturers and cosmetics producers.

Shea butter FFA content is maintained at ≤1.5% and moisture at ≤0.5%. Annual production is 600 tonnes of shea butter and 150 tonnes of moringa powder. The cooperative is pursuing EU organic equivalence certification, with a certification body audit scheduled for 2027.

COTONTCHAD (Société Cotonnière du Tchad) is the state parastatal that manages Chad's entire cotton value chain from input supply through ginning to export marketing. Chad produces 350,000–500,000 tonnes of seed cotton per season, ginned at COTONTCHAD's 17 factories across the southern cotton belt.

Cotton lint is available in Grade A (UHML ≥28mm, strength ≥28 gpt, micronaire 3.5–4.9) and Grade B classifications. Buyers can access COTONTCHAD supply through authorised cotton merchants in N'Djamena or through the parastatal's annual tender process.

Lake Chad supports dense natural blooms of Spirulina platensis that have been harvested by local Kanembu women for centuries, sun-dried into cakes called 'dihé'. LTNSE has formalised this wild harvest into a commercial export operation, producing dried spirulina powder from both wild-harvested and cultivated sources.

Wild-harvested Lake Chad spirulina contains protein ≥60%, beta-carotene ≥4,000 mg/kg, and phycocyanin ≥15%. The company holds EU organic equivalence certification for its cultivated spirulina operation. Annual export volumes are 30–50 tonnes of dried spirulina powder.

NGOE is a N'Djamena-based agricultural commodity trader specialising in sesame, groundnuts, and cowpeas for export to Nigerian and international buyers. The company leverages Chad's geographic position at the intersection of Sahel agricultural zones to aggregate supply from both southern Chad and cross-border Cameroonian growing areas.

Sesame (white, purity ≥99%) and groundnuts (aflatoxin B1 ≤4 ppb) are primary export products. The company uses both the Douala corridor (for European-bound shipments) and the Nigerian corridor (for Asian-bound shipments through Apapa Port) to optimise shipping costs.

SDDFE sources artisanal dates from remote oasis communities in Borkou and Tibesti regions of northern Chad. Borkou dates (Tedele variety and local cultivars) are harvested by traditional communities and sun-dried in the arid Saharan climate to 20% moisture, developing an intense caramel sweetness and firm texture.

The company exports 100–300 tonnes per year through specialist artisan food importers in France and Belgium, who market the dates as a premium 'Saharan terroir' product. Despite the extreme logistics (1,200 km truck from Faya-Largeau to N'Djamena), the high premium pricing — 3–5x commodity date prices — justifies the cost structure for specialty buyers.

GACC is a producer cooperative organised with EIF and ITC support across the Batha and Salamat regions. The cooperative provides members with harvesting kits (tapping tools, collection bags, protection equipment), quality training, and collective marketing infrastructure to meet international gum arabic specifications.

From 2010 to 2022, with EIF support, Chad's gum arabic production nearly tripled. The cooperative's gum meets E414 food additive specifications and has been verified by European buyers for pharmaceutical excipient use. Annual cooperative volume is 3,000–5,000 tonnes of cleaned and sorted gum arabic exported through Douala Port.

Tchad Moringa & Natural Products is one of Chad's pioneer exporters of moringa leaf powder, dried hibiscus (Roselle) calyces, and natron (natural sodium carbonate). Moringa cultivation is expanding along irrigated plots near N'Djamena, with leaf drying and milling producing powder at ≤10% moisture and ≤300 micron particle size for EU health supplement buyers.

Dried hibiscus from Salamat and Guéra regions is exported to European herbal tea manufacturers and US beverage ingredient companies. All products carry Ministry of Commerce export licences and DPV phytosanitary certificates. EU organic certification is being pursued for the moringa powder line.