Entry: Josephine Dadzie, World Cocoa Foundation

As part of their training, students of the WCF Agric Logistics Skill Development Program have been undergoing Internships with program partners, ADM, Safmarine and Cocobod since January in their respective offices/ depots in Kumasi, Ghana.

The WCF Agric Logistics Skill Development Program is a certificate program designed to equip post-secondary Ghanaian youth with sufficient knowledge in logistics, transportation, supply chain, warehousing, information technologies, and other skills to help qualify them for employment as logistics/warehousing technicians, especially in the cocoa industry. Participants are specifically selected from cocoa growing areas.

In an interview with the students, they expressed how important these internships have been to their entire training tagging it ‘an eye-opener’. They are very pleased with the hands-on effect being added to the informative classroom training and field trips taken in the early stages of the course. Some specifics have been the field use of Webpro and JDE software amongst other pertinent logistics and supply chain tools as well as marketing and human relations skills. Thanks to the Partners for being so warm to the students; they have good stories about the staff they have been in contact with.

Participants interviewed indicated that the program has given them new paradigms. This has been to the extent that some have moved from selling car tires and being internet café attendants to a decision to take-on a degree course in Logistics & Supply Chain Management. They now see themselves as professionals.

The program has certainly turned lives of the youth involved around, a very rewarding way to give back to the people from whose households come cocoa.

Permalink | Posted On April 27, 2012 Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Entry: Marisa Yoneyama, World Cocoa Foundation

The WCF Cocoa Livelihoods Program (CLP) is a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 16 WCF industry members that was formed in 2009 to increase the livelihoods of approximately 200,000 West and Central African cocoa farming households. This program reaches farmers and improves their income through three main components: improving marketing efficiency, improving cocoa production efficiency and quality at the farm level, and improving famer competitiveness on diversified cocoa farms. The third goal specifically includes business and marketing training for farmers, as well as the establishment of business service centers as a resource for farmers.

WCF/CLP partner GIZ works with the agriculture extension agencies of the national governments of Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria to provide Farmer Business School (FBS) training to cocoa farmers. Over 60,000 farmers have been trained since 2009, including 13,000 women. Following up on the good agriculture practices training, FBS focuses on the principles of farming as a business – cost benefit analysis of cocoa and other crops, planning the yearly cropping and cash in / cash out calendar, and diversification and marketing of various crops. Observed changes made by FBS graduates to date include registering new farmer organizations, opening group bank accounts for savings and credit, and maintaining a financial calendar for farm and household revenue and expenditures.

Farmers who have been trained through Farmer Business School have reported the following positives:

“I had been doing business without bothering about what goes out and what comes in, I had wasted my effort and time not knowing what I was doing, henceforth, I will take records of all that I do”….. R.E. Okokhuo FBS, Edo State

“We have formed a taskforce to ensure that all members in our group comply with spacing and pruning practices on their farms and recommended post-harvest methods. We have all agreed that defaulters will be fined”….. P. N. Wula FBS, Cross River State

Training farmers to properly care for their farms to improve productivity as well as training farmers to be more effective in the marketplace leads to increased incomes, which in turn, leads to greater purchasing power for the household including buying food for their families and school fees and supplies for their children. This good work would not be possible without the partnership between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as well as our members: Archer Daniels Midland Company, Armajaro, Barry Callebaut, Blommer Chocolate Company, Cargill, Ecom Agrocacao, Guittard Chocolate Company, The Hershey Company, Kraft Foods, Mars Inc., Noble Resources S.A., Olam International Ltd., Petra Foods Ltd., See's Candies, Inc., Starbucks Coffee Company, and Transmar Commodity Group Ltd.

Session on financial management in Nigeria.
Photo credit: GIZ

Permalink | Posted On March 30, 2012 Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Entry: Margaret Odotei, World Cocoa Foundation

It must have been the great ‘Boboobo’ dancing of the traditional dance group at the event, or the fact that Likpe Bakwa in Hohoe is home to some of the most beautiful sceneries in Ghana, or maybe it just was the hard work by NPECLC and its partners that had brought us all to this festive day. Participating in the GCLMS (Ghana Child Labour Monitoring System) launch at Likpe Bakwa in Hohoe in the Volta region of Ghana has been one of the most fulfilling moments so far this year. The GCLMS aims at obtaining comprehensive information, instituting timely and sustainable responses and mainstreaming Child Labour into national policies to contribute to Ghana’s target of reducing child labour by 70% by 2020.

The keynote address by the Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, an anecdote of his attitude to education as a child, and the day his parents had him arrested by the police for being truant resulting in his reporting to the police station daily to sign in on his way to school contributing to who he is today, drove home the value of education to parents and children from the various communities present at the launch event. On behalf of WCF, I had the opportunity to highlight our programs which raise awareness and provide alternatives to child labor, such as educational opportunities and economic activities to raise farmer incomes. The messages of partners such as the GIG, ICI, ILO, COCOBOD and the US government who graced the occasion added to the festive mood of the launch ceremony. We say kudos to the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare/NPECLC for the hard work in bringing the GCLMS to see the light of day!

‘Boboobo’ is one of the traditional dances of the Volta Region of Ghana

Margaret Odotei, World Cocoa Foundation

Permalink | Posted On March 23, 2012 Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Entry: Ethan Budiansky, World Cocoa Foundation

On March 14th and 15th, the WCF Cocoa Livelihoods Program (CLP) organized its 7th Technical Planning Meeting in Accra, Ghana. Over forty people participated, including CLP partners from implementing organizations, the cocoa companies, local extension agencies from Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire, country cocoa research facilities, as well as a number of other participants. They discussed topics such as measuring the impact of the CLP on farmers’ livelihoods and strategies for moving ahead.

Permalink | Posted On March 23, 2012 Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Entry: Bart Kroon, Continaf

Joining with WCF and its partners proved to be an effective way to align and activate industry efforts toward the further development of a growing and sustainable cocoa economy in Indonesia. The platform meeting clearly opened opportunities for collaboration and identified the challenges of local and international supply chain and productivity perspectives. The introduction on AMARTA II program clearly confirmed that focus lies on structural improvements on productivity and effectiveness of supply chain supported by both public and private parties.

It was a joy to travel with a delegation to west Sulawesi and be a witness of the progress made under AMARTA I, Gernas and the Nestlé cocoa plan. We have been impressed by the impact of the recently installed West Sulawesi governmental structure. Looking back both the field visits organised by the ministry and the story telling by Manfred Borer and his team inspired me to continue to support and invest in a sustainable cocoa economy in Indonesia and to continue to sell the value of such effort to our clients and their clients.

Pictured: Bart Kroon visiting West Sulawesi cocoa farm

Permalink | Posted On March 15, 2012 Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)