Newsletter |April Thru June of 2010

 

 

 

President’s Message

 

Dear WCF Members, Partners, and Friends,

Thank you to all who attended our 17th World Cocoa Foundation Partnership Meeting & Roundtable Sessions in the Netherlands last month.  With over 240 people in attendance, it was our second largest meeting to date.  It is encouraging to see such an interest in cocoa sustainability from a wide variety of stakeholders including cocoa-producing country governments, European and U.S. government agencies, the financial sector, research institutes, and non-governmental organizations. 

Along with a number of our member companies and implementing partners, these stakeholders attended a two-day conference highlighting cocoa sustainability issues of importance to the Netherlands and the global community.  We are grateful for the support of Rabobank Foundation and Rabobank International for providing the meeting venue.  Holding the meeting in association with these two organizations helped to draw a diverse audience with a range of interests and perspectives.  Overall, we received very positive feedback from participants.

Highlights of the meeting included presentations on the outlook for the cocoa and chocolate industries, improving farmers’ access to finance, and the role of standard systems. Another highlight was a new video about the Cocoa Livelihoods Program in Ghana. Presentations from the meeting are now available online.  We hope that you will be able to join us for our 18th Partnership Meeting & Roundtable Sessions to be held in Washington, D.C. on October 20 and 21.  This meeting will coincide with our celebration of our tenth year anniversary.  Registration will begin on July 15.

On another note, we are pleased to welcome Mr. Geert Waelkens as our EU liaison.  He brings a wealth of experience working on sustainability issues in a variety of agricultural sectors.  He is based in Belgium and will be working to support our partnerships with Europe-based organizations.

Regards,

Bill Guyton

 

Nigeria: "passion, courage and determination" - a farmer's ingredients for success

 

Mr. Andrew Ukhuegbe is a cocoa farmer from Edo State in Nigeria.  After working as a driver for a government agency for nearly 20 years, he retired in 1996 and began growing cocoa the following year.  His father had been a cocoa farmer, and Mr. Ukhuegbe had learned from his father as he was growing up.  Over a period of several years, he expanded his cocoa farm and today has approximately 6.5 hectares.

Before he started participating in a Farmer Field School (FFS) through the Sustainable Tree Crops Program, Mr. Ukhuegbe says he harvested about 32 bags of cocoa per year earning approximately 568,320 naira [approximately US$3,767].  However, he spent over 356,000 naira [approximately US$2,359] on labor costs and 18,000 naira [approximately US$119] on chemicals.

Speaking of the impact of FFS, which he completed in 2007, he says:

You know, I did not waste time.  I was applying all the things we were learning in the school on my farm and behold [laughing], there was a great improvement.  I pursued my farming with passion, courage and determination. In the first year of adopting FFS practices, I harvested 51 bags of cocoa from the farms which gave about 1,320,900 naira [approximately US$8,756].  I continued with the practices, and in 2009, I got 21 bags from only one farm and from all the farms I got 73 bags of cocoa which gave me about 4,095,722 naira [approximately US$27,151].  This is after the costs of labor and chemicals were deducted.  When I checked my records, because we were taught how to keep records at FFS, I saw that I spent 136,000 naira [approximately US$901] on labor and 6,800 naira [approximately US$45] on chemicals – even though I did not finish the chemicals I bought last year.

Oh STCP-Nigeria, I thank you!  I have been able to fence my old house with a gate and dug a borehole.  In 2009, I built a block of two flats, dug a borehole for the two flats, and bought myself a Hilux pickup van.  That’s not all.  I bought a 7 KVA generator and expanded my wife’s business.  My lifestyle has really improved; my children are living better than before, and I know since sales are still ongoing, more money is still coming. 

Furthermore, Mr. Ukhuegbe has demonstrated an interest in helping his neighbors.  He was selected to become a Farmer Field School facilitator and has also helped other farmers learn how to prune their trees.

 

 

The Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP) is a public-private partnership with support from African governments, the U.S. 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/STCP-Nigeria for contributing this story.

 

 

ecuador: a cocoa farmer succeeds in plant propagation

 

Don Humberto is a cocoa farmer in a small village of Los Ríos Province in Ecuador.  He participated in a SUCCESS Alliance Farmer Field School in 2005 where, among other skills, learned about nursery establishment and grafting.

Don Humberto’s interest in nursery establishment and great skill at grafting, decided to establish a nursery on his farm.  In 2006, he produced 65,000 grafted cocoa seedlings using material acquired from INIAP, Ecuador’s national agricultural research institute. 

Over a period of three years, he built up his business and has grafted a total of over 700,000 cocoa plants.  He now provides grafting, tree rehabilitation and pruning services to other farmers. 

He continues to demonstrate an interest in improving his skills.   In 2009, he was selected to participate in a micro-graft training course through which he learned to graft seedlings only 18 to 20 days after germination.  Don Humberto has shared his knowledge with others by training farmers to conduct grafting on their own farms.  Some of the trainees have been hired to assist him with large grafting contracts.

 

 

SUCCESS Alliance Ecuador is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the World Cocoa Foundation, Mars Inc., Transmar Commodity Group, PL480 Corporation, Nestlé, ACDI/VOCA and various local organizations.

WCF thanks ACDI/VOCA for contributing this story.

 

philippines: introducing new cocoa borlaug fellows

 

Two Cocoa Borlaug Fellows from the Philippines have been selected and will complete their fellowships in late 2010/early 2011.  Both fellows are based at the University of Southern Mindanao.

Ms. Nilda Butardo will be working with Dr. Dapeng Zhang of the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Maryland.  Together they will work on identifying mislabeling and assessing genetic diversity in the Mindanao cacao collection, as well as verifying the genotype identity of unique clones.

Dr. Leonila Tolentino will complete her fellowship at the University of Florida with Professor Yuncong Li.  Working with her mentor, she will learn soil analysis techniques which she will then apply to her work to develop organic composting for cocoa.

Each fellow will spend a two to three month period in the United States working with her mentor.  The mentors will later have the opportunity to travel to the Philippines for a follow-up visit.

The Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science & Technology Fellowship Program is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Foreign Agricultural Service.  The program’s Global Cocoa Initiative is implemented in partnership with the World Cocoa Foundation.

 

cocoa basics: what is root-knot nematode?

 

Plant-parasitic nematodes are unsegmented worm-like animals, commonly described as filiform or thread-like, unique in their ubiquity and variety of types as a soil-borne pest. Almost every crop has its complement of nematode parasites. Root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne spp.), are the most important nematode parasites of cacao because of the damage they cause and their wide distribution in cocoa-producing regions. Root-knot nematodes have been reported on cacao in Bolivia, Brazil, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, India, Malawi, Nigeria, São Tomé, and Venezuela.

Damage to cacao seedlings from the nematodes results in: dieback, stunting, wilting, chlorosis and reduction in size of leaves; galling of the root; and death of the seedlings. Following the invasion of roots by these obligate parasites, root cells swell and even coalesce to form giant cells in the formation of galls. This abnormal swelling of the roots is the most obvious symptom farmers will see when the infected seedlings are uprooted. Reports from Nigeria and Ghana revealed that root-knot nematodes’ infection of cacao seedlings results in the above-ground hypocotyls swelling in addition to large galls on tap roots and smaller galls on feeding roots. In the field, when the dieback condition occurs, the trees die down to their roots. However, the roots remain alive and will continue to send up shoots in the following growing season or when the dead terminals are removed.

Several attempts have been made to manage this nematode in the nursery and in the field. Preventing the spread of root-knot nematodes through effective quarantine legislation and prophylactic measures at farm level is of vital importance to avoid previously uncontaminated areas from becoming infested. Commonly-used shade plants in cocoa fields, such as plantain and banana, may become a source of inoculum in the cocoa farm. The replacement of banana as a shade for cacao to reduce the nematode infestation in cacao is recommended. Once present in an area, limiting the damage caused by root-knot nematodes depends on knowledge of their effects on plant growth, nematode population dynamics and distribution patterns, and effective sampling. Effective control by one method is an outdated concept, and currently the favored approach is an integrated management strategy comprising several components, including cultural schemes (best practices), the use of soil organic amendments (e.g. poultry litter, compost) and tolerant cultivars. In addition to providing supplementary nutrients which in turn may have a positive effect on vegetative growth and yield, organic soil amendments are reputed to mitigate the impact of root-knot nematodes in cacao.

 

An enlarged above ground hypocotyl swelling of cacao seedling caused by root-knot nematodes.

 

WCF thanks Dr. Samuel Orisajo of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria for contributing this story.  He is an alumnus of the Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science & Technology Fellowship Program’s Global Cocoa Initiative. He completed his fellowship from March to May 2010.

 

 

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