Newsletter | July Thru september of 2009
President’s Message
Dear WCF Members, Partners and Friends :
This month we are pleased to announce new ways to get involved in WCF’s work to promote a sustainable cocoa economy. Follow us on Twitter and stay connected through our new Facebook page. Make a donation to support a WCF program or contribute to WCF’s work overall. Another way to get involved is by attending our Partnership Meetings. Our upcoming meeting in Brussels (October 14-15) will focus on the theme of “Building Capacity for a Sustainable Cocoa Sector”. For the first time, we are including interactive roundtable sessions on topics including farmer extension, health, and the environment. Registration is now open, contact Clementine Leahy for details.
For our colleagues in cocoa-producing countries, there are several new opportunities to get involved. Research institute, universities, farmer groups and nongovernmental organizations based in Côte d’Ivoire are eligible to apply for challenge grant funding to develop innovations in the areas of labor-saving technology, farm safety, and education & community development. Information is available on our website; applications are due on October 31.
For researchers based in the Philippines, Mexico, or Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement countries, applications are now being accepted for Cocoa Borlaug Fellowships. Please visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Foreign Agricultural Service’s Borlaug Fellowship Program website for application materials and eligibility requirements. This issue of our newsletter highlights the work of one program alumnus and features an article written by another.
Lastly, please join us in welcoming two new members to the Foundation – Rizek Cacao C. por A. (Dominican Republic) and Dependable Distribution Services (United States).
Regards,
Bill Guyton
remembering Dr. Norman e. borlaug
WCF was saddened to learn of the death of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug a few weeks ago. Dr. Borlaug’s research to develop high-yielding grain varieties reduced hunger and improved quality of life for small-scale farmers around the world. For this work, he earned the honorary title “Father of the Green Revolution” and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. Dr. Borlaug’s commitment to improving agriculture in the developing world is an inspiration to all who work in the international development and agricultural research fields.
His legacy lives on in part through the Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science & Technology Fellows Program supported by the U.S. Department of Agricultural Service. WCF is honored to be a part of this program. Since 2008, WCF has facilitated the fellowships of ten scientists from the cocoa-producing countries of Cameroon, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ghana, Guatemala, Indonesia, Liberia, Nigeria and the Philippines.
farmer uses training to overcome adversity
February 18, 2008 is the day Mr. Peter Nantwi remembers as the day that his 4 acre (~1.6 hectare) farm burned in a fire. The news came at a particularly difficult time for the 53-year-old cocoa farmer as he was mourning the death of his father with whom he had farmed for many years.
April brought some positive developments as Mr. Nantwi was trained to become a Farmer Field School facilitator and teach his fellow farmers about cocoa production techniques, farm diversification, and pest control amongst other topics. From May to December of that year, he trained a group of 45 farmers. Training other farmers helped Mr. Nantwi to improve his own knowledge of cocoa farming. “I decided to replant my burnt cocoa farm. I was confident and determined to do it in memory of my late father and to contribute to the wellbeing of my family and my community,” he said. “Cocoa production is the main source of income for me. Income from cocoa helps my family a lot and we cannot do without it.”
In November 2008, Mr. Nantwi suffered another setback. A poultry farm business he had developed as an alternative source of income failed. Without an income to support his wife and four children, construction of their house came to a halt. Replanting the farm became a more pressing task. Mr. Nantwi purchased improved cocoa seed pods from the Ghana Cocoa Board’s Seed Production Unit. With these seeds, he established a 6,000 plant nursery. “I hope to replant my burnt farm with some of these seedlings and sell the rest,” he said. “I have planted plantain suckers to provide shade to the young cocoa seedlings when transplanted. Furthermore, I know the importance of diversification and so I will plant cassava and maize also when the rainy season starts.” Operating the nursery business and planting other crops will provide a source of income for the Nantwi family while they wait for their newly planted cocoa trees to mature. Other farmers in the area were impressed with the nursery and quickly placed orders for seedlings.
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-Ghana for contributing this story.
WCF signs cocoa sustainability declaration with jamaican ministry of agriculture and usaid
On September 16, Jamaican Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Dr. Christopher Tufton and the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Donovan Stanberry met with WCF staff, member companies and U.S. Agency for International Development Mission Director for Jamaica Dr. Karen Hilliard. During the meeting, attendees discussed the development of the Jamaican cocoa sector and the importance of addressing cocoa sustainability issues. At the conclusion of the meeting, Dr. Tufton, Dr. Hilliard and WCF President Bill Guyton signed a declaration of intent for an international development initiative on cocoa. The letter acknowledges the role of cocoa in economic development and livelihoods improvement as well as the importance of addressing disease management and quality.
Cocoa borlaug fellow alumnus continues research
Muhammad Junaid of Hasanuddin University completed a Cocoa Borlaug Fellowship from March 27 to May 20, 2009. While in the U.S., he worked with mentor Dr. Gary Samuels of the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS) in Beltsville, Maryland. Since returning to Indonesia, Mr. Junaid has continued his research on vascular streak dieback, a fungal disease that is a major concern in Indonesia and other areas of Southeast Asia.
The disease was first observed in Indonesia in 2002, but different disease symptoms have been observed in different areas. This has raised the possibility that there are different strains of the fungus that can cause the disease. Mr. Junaid’s research focuses on addressing this question. In conducting the research, he is collaborating with Dr. Philip Keane of La Trobe University (Australia) and Dr. Smilja Lambert of Mars Inc. as well as Dr. Samuels and colleagues at Hasanuddin University.
In July, Mr. Junaid, Dr. Keane, Dr. Lambert and Mr. Agus Purwantara (Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute) traveled to the Pinrang and Soppeng areas in South Sulawesi to observe the incidence of vascular streak dieback and collect material for analysis. They visited both seedling nurseries and cocoa farms where they observed different symptoms of the disease and varying degrees of damage as a result. Samples will be prepared at Hasanuddin University and DNA will be analyzed at USDA/ARS. Mr. Junaid plans to collect samples from a total of 23 areas of Sulawesi.
The Norman E. Borlaug Agricultural Science & Technology Fellows Program is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Foreign Agricultural Service.
WCF thanks Muhammad Junaid for contributing to this story.
cocoa basics: what is cocoa swollen shoot virus?
The cocoa swollen shoot virus (CSSV) is the most significant among the four common viruses of cacao in terms of crop losses. The virus causes one of the most devastating viral diseases of cacao, the cocoa swollen shoot virus disease (CSSVD). The disease, which was first reported in 1936, is currently confined to cacao-producing countries in West Africa, but is not found in Cameroon.
Several isolates of CSSV have been reported in West Africa and are mostly transmitted by insect vectors. Isolates of CSSV are named according to the place where they were first identified (e.g. New Juabeng in Ghana; Agou in Togo; Kongodia in Côte d’Ivoire), the symptom(s) induced in the host (e.g. swelling, chlorosis, vein banding) and effects on host (e.g. severe or mild).
In the field, the virus is transmitted by mealy bugs, particularly by the females of the Planococcus citri (Risso) and Planococcoides njalenis (Laing) species. In the laboratory, transmission can be achieved by brushing partially purified virus onto cacao beans and through budding and grafting of infected tissues onto healthy seedlings.
CSSV induces stem, leaf, root and pod symptoms in infected cacao. Development of swelling on the stem is the characteristic symptom of most isolates of CSSV from which the name of the virus was derived. Leaf symptoms include red vein banding followed by chlorotic vein flecking or banding which may extend along larger veins to form angular flecks or a fern pattern if the banding is along secondary veins. In Amelonado cacao, reddening of primary veins and veinlets may appear in flush leaves. The swelling can develop on the nodes, internodes or tips of chupons, fans or branches or on roots. Infected pods are smaller, have smoother surfaces and almost spherical in shape. Beans from such pods are fewer, smaller, flattened and have pale cotyledons in comparison to pods from healthy trees. Severe strains of CSSV can kill susceptible cacao within two to three years.
Once a tree is infected, it must be removed in order to prevent spreading the disease further. Typically, this requires removing the visibly infected tree together with all the surrounding contact trees. The farmer then replants that area of the farm. To reduce the risk of early infection of new plantings from older plantings, cordon sanitaire, where a band of 10 meters is left between the old and new areas, is being practiced. Sometimes, immune crops such as cola, citrus and oil palm are planted in the cordon to further delay spread of the virus. Other methods such as breeding for resistance, mild strain cross protection and vector control measures are being pursued.
CSSVD caused about 200 million cacao trees to be removed from about 130,000 hectares between 1948 and 1995 in Ghana and more than 150,000 trees in Côte d’Ivoire between 1945 and 1948. Recent outbreaks in Côte d’Ivoire have caused the destruction of about 8,600 hectares of plantings. In Ghana, about 45 million trees covering over 41,000 hectares of land are to be cut out in addition to over 32 million trees that were destroyed between 2001 and 2004.
WCF thanks Michael Assuah of the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana for contributing this story. Mr. Assuah was a Cocoa Borlaug Fellow at the University of Florida.
wcf cocoa news
Click on the links below to read more. Visit the WCF Blog and Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the quarter.
July 2009
August 2009
Cocoa Borlaug Fellow James Quiroz writes about visiting WCF member companies
SUCCESS Alliance Philippines featured in the Philippine Star newspaper
Challenge Grant Project highlighted by Ghana News Agency
September 2009
Cocoa Borlaug Fellow Raquel Guerrero writes about her fellowship experience
Jamaican delegation visits WCF office