Recently, I attended the 4th Indonesia International
Cocoa Conference, followed by field visits to cocoa
farms. The theme of the conference was "World
Cocoa Sustainability Partnership" which closely ties to
the mission and goals of the World Cocoa
Foundation. I was surprised by the size and diversity of
the audience (over 250) from both the private and
public sectors. ASKINDO did an excellant job at
organizing the conference.
Cocoa is a very important export crop for Indonesia,
which is currently the third largest producer in the
world. As in other cocoa growing countries, the crop is
cultivated by small scale family farmers. The cocoa
industry in Indonesia faces several challenges and
opportunities. One of the more serious problems is
the cocoa
pod borer pest which destroys millions of
dollars worth of cocoa in the fields. The World Cocoa
Foundation and partners are investing in pilot programs to curb the losses by
providing better
farming and harvesting practices. Greater investment
is needed in the future to breed trees that are more
resistant to the pest. This effort will take time and
patience.
Conference speakers
included Mr. Bayu
Krisnamurthi,
Deputy Minister of the Coordinating Ministry for
Economic
Affairs in Indonesia, who presented the country's
national plan for cocoa development. I particularly
liked his remarks on encouraging small scale
farmers. "The people ARE the giant", he said, and the
government will help, where possible, to ensure
farmers' success. His
remarks were supported by other government officials
and trade groups.
International speakers included Jan
Vingerhoets of the International Cocoa Organization,
Phil Sigley from the Federation of Cocoa Commerce in
the UK, Isaac Osei from the Ghana Cocoa Board, Pam
Thornton from the Cocoa Merchants Association of
America, and myself . We
also heard about market potential in China, as well as
a new Indonesian public-private initiative
called "Cocoa Sustainability Partnership" or CSP.
Here are the meeting proceedings.
After the conference, Ben Ripple of Big Tree Farms
hosted a small group tour of local cocoa
farms. We visited an area where farmers
had replaced terraced rice fields with cocoa. I noticed
cocoa growing in
association with vanilla and cash crops, thus
helping farmers to diversify their income sources.
Although the majority of Indonesian cocoa is
unfermented, farmers in this area were fermenting their
beans and using improved drying techniques.
After leaving Indonesia, I had the opportunity to visit
World Cocoa Foundation member companies in
Japan: Morinaga, Meiji and Lotte. These companies
support sustainable cocoa efforts and have helped to
provide guidance to WCF. In Japan as in many other
countries, single-origin and specialty cocoa is
becoming increasingly popular.
Best Wishes from Indonesia, Bill
News from the Field highlights World
Cocoa Foundation staff travels to WCF program sites
and partners' events in cocoa-producing
countries.