Prediction of nutritional impact of the mango sector in Côte d’Ivoire: past, present and future

Mango is an important tropical fruit, rich in essential micronutrients. In Côte d’Ivoire, the harvested fruit is either exported to international and regional markets, processed, or remains on the local market. Nutritional flows across value chains and their resulting nutritional impact are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to estimate the past, present, and future nutritional impact of the mango value chain in Côte d’Ivoire. We adapted the NUTRI-P-LOSS methodology that predicts nutritional postharvest losses across crop value chains, to assess nutritional flows in the mango value chain. Mango production quantities were estimated, and fruits at harvest, during ripening, and after drying, were analysed for macro- and micronutrients. Findings indicate that mango domestic nutritional contribution is likely to increase in the future, helping address vitamin A and C deficiencies and anaemia related-issues that remain prevalent, particularly among vulnerable groups such as children under five, pregnant teenagers and women (i.e. meeting requirements for vitamin C, from approximatively 60,000 people in 2000, to 1 million people in 2050). Whilst vitamin A is concentrated in dried mango, vitamin C—the fresh fruit’s primary micronutrient—is lost in drying. Therefore, increased domestic consumption of dried mango would increase vitamin A from mango but not improve the overall nutritional impact of mango on the local population (vitamins A and C, iron). Our work leads to the development of a user-friendly tool that predicts the past, present, and future nutritional impact of crop production with mango in Côte d’Ivoire as an example.