Can you tell us about your activities?
I am co-founder and designer at Team Créatif, an independent design agency created with Nick Craig, my husband, 35 years ago. Today, we have founded an independent international group born out of design with 300 employees and multiple areas of expertise: branding and packaging, retail, eco-design, brand content, and production.
We have offices in Sao Paulo, Jakarta, Singapore, the United States, Lisbon, Lyon, and Paris, which is home to our hub. We also have a production agency in Limoges.
Last December, you launched a project to help independent farmers in West Africa. Can you tell us about the project for their products? What motivated this collaboration?
In collaboration with IFAD*,
a specialized agency of the United Nations, we launched a project to help small independent farmers in West Africa add value to their products. IFAD operates in a total of 23 countries, including Côte d'Ivoire, Chad, Senegal, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
Before the pandemic began, we had the opportunity to visit the region and spend several weeks with these players in the agricultural sector. We held numerous meetings with governments and local chambers of commerce to bring the project to fruition. Upon our return to Paris, we created the "Terr'Africa" brand, a unifying banner for all countries and all sectors. The brand will therefore be adapted to each country: Terr'Ivoire, Terre Sénégal, etc. With this strong branding designed by the Design Team Creatif agency, the packaging will have a strong impact on store shelves and will enable sales in stores close to production areas, supermarkets in medium-sized and large cities, and also in duty-free shops in the future. This packaging will avoid bulk sales, enhance the value of the product while preserving it, and facilitate sales in each country while highlighting its origin.
In which country did you launch your first initiative?
We started in Côte d'Ivoire last December. Alongside the Propacom* project team, the agency met with small farmers who need storage, packaging, and distribution for their products. This region, rich in raw materials, faces great difficulties in the agricultural chain: from production to marketing to large international firms. Our goal is to increase the incomes of small local producers. Ultimately, vulnerable populations such as women, young people, and people suffering from malnutrition will benefit from this transformation.
What are your medium-term ambitions?
With the support of the Agricultural Sector Development Support Program (PADFA), we will use a network of experts to train farmers to become effective sales forces in local markets (villages, towns, regions).
We want to support these players in the agricultural sector so that they can establish a lasting presence in the local market, in particular through partnerships with local retailers. Ultimately, our ambition is to develop this brand internationally if these producers also manage to increase their production. To this end, IFAD intends to equip these producers with facilities and machinery to further professionalize the sector and facilitate the development of supply chains, while respecting natural resources and the environment.
E-commerce will also be an important lever for development for these producers operating under the Terr' Africa banner.
How do you link this to your activity as a communications agency?
It has become clear that sharing our know-how and skills will require the future creation of a Team Créatif agency in Abidjan. This location will facilitate the recruitment of local graphic designers and provide support to the virtually non-existent printing industry in Côte d'Ivoire to help establish the sector. Unfortunately, the health crisis has slowed down our projects.
We also have ambitions in Senegal, where we would like to open a school to train young people in our professions of design, branding, marketing, and packaging.
* IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development)
* PROPACOM (Project to Support Agricultural Production and Marketing Extension West)
* FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization)