Improving Occupational Safety and Health Project on West African Cocoa Farms
Project Dates: March 2009-Feburary 2010
Countries: Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana
Funder: Swedish Chocolate, Confectionery and Biscuit Manufacturers’ Association (CHOKOFA)
Implementers: World Cocoa Foundation, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture/Sustainable Tree Crops Program (IITA/STCP), and Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CNRA)
Overview:
The Improving Occupational Safety and Health on West African Cocoa Farms Project aims to address farm safety and health issues through: 1) developing appropriate farmer training materials and 2) supporting the development of innovative technologies to improve farm safety and productivity. Once completed, the materials will be available for use by other programs or institutions in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and the larger West African cocoa-growing region.
Program Objectives:
- Develop technical bulletins, training exercises, and printed extension materials designed to sensitize cocoa farmers to farm safety and health issues. (IITA/STCP)
- Pilot these exercises and materials with an initial group of at least 94 trainers (23 in Côte d’Ivoire; 71 in Ghana) and 4,720 farmers (1,120 in Côte d’Ivoire; 3,600 in Ghana). The trainers include Farmer Field School facilitators, representatives from farmer cooperatives, and representatives from local institutions. (IITA/STCP)
- Fund two challenge grants to support the development of innovations in the areas of farm safety, health education training, and/or productivity. Grants will be awarded to eligible Ivoirian institutions such as research institutes, universities, and NGOs. (WCF)
Progress to Date:
- Manual developed and pre-tested. A training manual including 12 technical bulletins and 13 exercises was developed and pre-tested in a three-session short course following Farmer Field Schools.
- 56 trainers trained in use of occupational safety and health material. A total of 36 trainers in Ghana and 20 in Côte d’Ivoire were trained in the use of the material.
- Workshop held in Ghana: A one-day workshop was held to create awareness of the importance of occupational safety and health in cocoa production, identify constraints that prevent farmers from such recommendations, and propose interventions and policy changes for improvement. Participants represented key government agencies, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and other cocoa-related programs.
- Two challenge grants awarded to CNRA. One grant was awarded to develop extension materials and radio messages, based on previously-developed manuals, that will be used to instruct farmers on integrated pest and disease management and the safe and rational use of pesticides. The second is to improve understanding of the benefits of using improved planting material through “open house” events at the CNRA research station in Divo and training at community demonstration plots.