Abstract

Costs and profits in malt processing, dolo brewing and retail sales and ways to improve thedolo supply chain were surveyed in six cities in Burkina Faso, through questionnaires administered to malt processors, dolo processors, retailers and consumers. The highest costs were reported for dolo processing and the lowest profits for dolo retail sales. Large malt and dolo processors and dolo retailers had higher costs which were compensated for by greater profits than for medium and small processors/retailers. Comparisons of profits per unit cost indicated that malt processing in medium category, dolo processing in small category and dolo retail sales in large category often generate more profit per unit cost. The profit made by each member of the supply chain was higher than the Inter-professional minimum guaranteed salary (IMGS) in Burkina Faso. It appeared in this study that the improvement of the dolo supply chain would require that (1) credit be available and accessible for farmers to produce quality sorghum grain and women processors to purchase equipment needed for malt and dolo processing, conservation and distribution, and (2) malt and dolo production and marketing systems to the benefit of all members of the supply chain be organized through improvement of the partnership between members, increase profit of all supply chain members and training to improve all supply chain members  production skills.

Key words: Costs, dolo, malt, processors, retailers, profits.