New World Cocoa Foundation Contributors
The World Cocoa Foundation welcomes its newest contributors, Nestle, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company and Quality Candies. For a complete list of World Cocoa Foundation contributors, go to www.worldcocoafoundation.org.
Fall Partnerships Meeting Oct. 1
The World Cocoa Foundation will hold its fall Partnerships Meeting on October 1st in Washington, DC. The Foundation’s cocoa research activities as well as regional farmer training programs in West Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia will be the focus of the daylong event. The meeting will be held at the Melrose Hotel with a reception in the Sequoia State Room in Georgetown to follow.
SUCCESS Continues with the help of USAID
Our partnership with the SUCCESS Alliance in Indonesia continues with new funding from USAID. SUCCESS will conduct 65 new Farmer Field Schools in the next 6 months reaching more than 3,000 farmers in sustainable growing methods. SUCCESS focuses on frequent harvesting, pruning, field sanitation and fertilizer uses as well as working to improve farmer knowledge of good cocoa marketing strategies. The farmer field schools also will train farmers on the use of biological controls to fight the cocoa pod borer pest. WCF consultant David Lim will continue side grafting training.
Did You Know?
- Estimated number of cocoa farms in West Africa: 1.2 – 1.5 million
- Number of people in West Africa who live on a cocoa farm: 10 million
- Percentage of world cocoa supply that comes from West Africa: Approximately 70%
- Average size of a cocoa farm in West Africa: 3-7 hectares
- Average approximate number of family members who live on a cocoa farm: 8-10
- Amount of cocoa produced worldwide: 3 million tons annually
West African Farmer Field Schools Have Begun
After much preparatory work, the Sustainable Tree Crops Program’s first West African farmer field school training sessions were held in Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria and Cameroon in July. In Ghana, approximately 75 farmers participated in the community training sessions that address labor issues, farmers’ organizations, market information and technology transfer. B.K. Matlick, who has been active in setting up the training, attended the first sessions. Each farmer group will meet every other week for a year. Several farming communities have asked for similar sessions. The global chocolate industry supports this effort.
Latin America Regional Program
WCF has reached out to several interested groups on developing a regional tree crops program in Latin America. A trip to the region is planned in the next couple of months. New research and farmer training projects in Ecuador will begin in September.
www.worldcocoafoundation.org Additions
Check out several new additions to our website including photos from the recent Farmer Field Schools in Ghana, the worldwide chocolate and cocoa industry newsletter on responsible cocoa growing and the WCF staff bios.