World Cocoa Foundation Newsletter
August 2007 Issue 31

In this Issue:
New On Our Website
President's Message

Dear WCF Members, Partners and Friends,

In our last newsletter, we highlighted the Farmer Field School approach to farmer training that is an integral part of WCF-supported programs. In this issue, we focus on another, equally important component - farmer organizational strengthening. Membership in a well run farmer organization allows farmers to fully realize the benefits of their training. Group selling arrangements increase farmers' bargaining power, enabling them to receive a higher price for their cocoa. Organizations often bring access to credit, discounted farm inputs, transportation, and other services.

In collaboration with a variety of public, private and non-profit sector partners, WCF supports programs that work to strengthen farmer organizations from their initial establishment to fine-tuning management skills. This year, the Andean Countries Cocoa Export Support Opportunity (ACCESO) Program launched an initiative to work with 42 farmer organizations in the region on building management skills and developing work plans. In West Africa, we recently announced a partnership with the US Agency for International Development and Canadian International Development Agency to work with farmer organizations through the Sustainable Tree Crops Program. Under this partnership, SOCODEVI will work with institutions in Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria to increase their capacity to assist farmer organizations.

On another note, we were pleased to host Paul Ntim of the Ghana Cocoa Board for a summer internship as part of his graduate studies at Columbia University in New York. Paul was a valuable addition to our team and we wish him the best as he finishes his studies.

Regards,
Bill Guyton

LOTTE CO., LTD. was founded as a chewing gum manufacturer in 1948, and is now the largest general confectionery company in Japan. Lotte Confectionery Co., Ltd. (South Korea), a sister company, was established in 1967, and is the largest confectionery company in South Korea. Lotte has expanded its production base worldwide, and now has confectionery factories in eight countries.

In 1964 Lotte entered the chocolate business by launching "Ghana Milk Chocolate" as their first chocolate product. Every year Lotte technical and purchasing staff visit cocoa farming areas around the world. Through these visits and their observations of cocoa production in producing countries, they began to think how best to contribute to the economic and social welfare of cocoa farmers.

"For us, joining the World Cocoa Foundation is a great opportunity to support cocoa farms and farmers. As a member of WCF we would like to make a contribution to wholesome cocoa production and quality improvement of cocoa," said Mr. Atsushi Sasaki, manager, purchasing department, production division, "We fully support the WCF's mission of promoting a sustainable cocoa economy."
Euromar Commodities GmbH ("ECG") is a leading family-owned and independently operated cocoa processing company, established in 2002 in the Berlin area of Germany. ECG produces high quality semi-finished cocoa products for supply to the worldwide confectionery, ice-cream and bakery industries.

"As a company focused on the production of semi- finished cocoa products, Euromar places a high premium on the sustainability of our segment of the supply chain," says CEO Peter Johnson, "Euromar firmly believes in the goals and actively seeks to support the hard work of the WCF. We believe that every effort to better the lives of the farmers improves the experience of consumers, ultimately strengthening industry players throughout the supply chain."
The Tonikoko Farmers Cooperative Multipurpose Union (TFCMU) based in Ondo State includes 33 primary societies with a total membership of approximately 3,000 farmers; many of whom have completed training through Farmer Field Schools. The cooperative union provides its members with a great opportunity to increase their income through both increased revenues and decreased expenses. Collective marketing increases farmers' bargaining power allowing them to get a better price for their cocoa. As members of a legally recognized cooperative union, TFCMU have also benefited from government subsidized inputs such as fertilizer and tools.

In the 2006-2007 trading season, members of the Union who participated in a collective marketing arrangement facilitated by the Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP) received an average of 10% price margin above the prevailing market prices. Union officials say that the collective marketing arrangement helped them to sell high quality beans as participating farmers were required to meet quality standards set by the Union. The Union is gradually building up a brand name 'TFU beans" for its beans as local buying agents seek to buy its members' beans because of their good quality. STCP is a public-private partnership with support from African governments, the US Agency for International Development, the World Cocoa Foundation, and the chocolate industry. The program is managed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

WCF thanks IITA for contributing this story.
This year, the Andean Countries Export Support Opportunity Program (ACCESO) launched a new regional initiative to strengthen farmer organizations. Workshops were held in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to further develop the capacity of new and established farmer organizations.

Farmer leaders representing eight farmer organizations attended the workshop in Colombia in April. The 27 farmer leaders participated in sessions on management skills, market access and strategic planning among other topics. "The workshop will allow us to plan our activities in the field and use our limited infrastructure more efficiently," said Mr. Libardo Barón of ASOMUCARI, an organization in Santander seeking to increase its management capacity as it expands its membership.

The workshop culminated in the development of work plans for each participating organization. Participants such as Mr. Valentín García of ASPROAGROMAR, an organization of farmers in Bolivar new to cocoa farming, saw great value in this exercise noting, "The work plan is an excellent complement to the projects that we have presented to institutions in order to receive more funding." Following the workshop, the organizations will continue to work closely with FEDECACAO and WCF members Casa Luker and Compañía Nacional de Chocolates. ACCESO is supported by the World Cocoa Foundation, the Organization of American States, the US Department of State, the US Agency for International Development, and Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture.

WCF thanks Mr. Marcelo Nuñez, the ACCESO executive secretary, for contributing this story.
Cocoa entrepreneurs in Vietnam are establishing innovative cocoa businesses to provide services to local farmers. Mr. Ly Hong Hai and Mr. Trinh Van Thanh of Ba Ria Vung Tau are two such entrepreneurs. Both men began their involvement with cocoa and the WCF- funded Nong Lam University Cocoa Project in 2001 through their roles as extension agent and deputy head of the agriculture department of Xa Bang Commune, respectively. Working with Nong Lam University and the SUCCESS Alliance Vietnam Program each founded a unique cocoa business.

With experience managing a SUCCESS Alliance nursery, Mr. Hai (pictured) established his own independent nursery producing over 200,000 seedlings for local farmers in 2006. Customers have the option of requesting the company's "after sale services" which include assistance with various aspects of cocoa production, essentially a private-sector alternative to extension services. Building on the success of the nursery, Mr. Hai began fermentation and drying operations using unfermented beans and whole cocoa pods purchased from local farmers.

Mr. Thanh became well regarded as his commune's cocoa expert after becoming a SUCCESS Alliance training facilitator in 2004. Since then, he has also established his own nursery, fermentary, and cocoa buying operations. He is now selling the fermented and dried beans to ED&F Man Cocoa and Cargill and is currently expanding his storage capacity. A more recent addition to his cocoa business is a small scale grinding operation; its products are sold to a local coffee roaster for use in café mocha. SUCCESS Alliance is supported by the US Department of Agriculture, the US Agency for International Development, World Cocoa Foundation, Mars Inc., and local organizations. It is implemented by ACDI/VOCA .

WCF thanks the Nong Lam University Cocoa Team and ACDI/VOCA for contributing this story.
"Cocoa Basics" is a feature designed to provide insight into technical aspects of cocoa production and demonstrate how WCF programs "bring science to the field".

Integrated pest management (IPM) is an approach to pest control that utilizes information on pests' lifecycles and interactions with the environment to select methods of control that are effective, economically feasible and considerate of environmental effects. IPM focuses on preventative and natural means of pest control; pesticides are not used as a preventive measure, but may be used to control an existing pest problem. Organic pest control includes many of the same methods, but does not permit the use of synthetic pesticides.

IPM encourages farmers to think about pest problems before they occur and to take preventative measures such as crop diversification and intercropping, proper sanitation, spacing of plants, and planting pest resistant varieties. Farmers then identify the pests found on their farm and monitor the pest population. If the pest population exceeds the action threshold, farmers begin more active methods of pest control. This may take the form of pheromone or mechanical traps, or the targeted spraying of appropriate pesticides. By identifying the pests and monitoring the population, farmers can determine the most effective method of controlling pests.

World Cocoa Foundation supported programs incorporate integrated pest management into the Farmer Field School curriculum. To date, more than 300,000 farmers have been trained in IPM through WCF-supported Farmer Field Schools. In addition, WCF supports breeding programs to identify and develop pest and disease resistant varieties of cocoa.
Click on the links below to read about WCF staff travel to the field and participation in events. Visit the World Cocoa Foundation Blogon a regular basis for updates.

Fun Fact: It is estimated that 80% of the world's cocoa is produced by farmers with less than 5 hectares of land holdings.