Entry: Bill Guyton
Dear readers,
I would like to share with you questions we receive about cocoa sustainability and The World Cocoa Foundation. In a recent email, a reader
asked:
[World Cocoa Foundation] supports cocoa farming families and the
communities in which they live focusing on improving the economic
return from cocoa and ensuring that cocoa is grown responsibly. I am wondering HOW these families are earning more money by still belonging to the free trade market and I am also wondering if pesticides are still used and if so, why not use the shade grown model used by some fair trade producers?
World Cocoa Foundation:
World Cocoa Foundation programs are based on the "farmer field school" (FFS) model, originally developed by the United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). During these field schools, farmers learn about grafting, pruning, post-harvest handling, crop diversification, non-chemical pest management practices and many other topics to help them grow cocoa more sustainably. They also learn about social issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention and child labor awareness. Read more about how the programs are helping farmers and personal stories from farmer graduates at http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/difference/africa-ffs.asp and at
http://www.ecandy.com/newsletter.aspx?NewsLetterID=106%20.
A recent impact study in Africa showed that farmers who graduate from the program report a 22-50 percent increase in their incomes through improved yields. They also used fewer pesticides.
Farmer graduates are encouraged to share what they have learned with their neighbors and to strengthen farmer cooperatives.
Training curricula are continually updated to include latest technologies.
The reader's next questions relate to shade grown cocoa and use of pesticides. It is important to note that cocoa is a shade-loving tree.
Most small-scale farmers grow cocoa in association with other tree crops (bananas, coconuts, citrus, cashews)and hardwoods. This is the traditional way that cocoa is grown by small-scale farmers, accounting for over 80 percent of the cocoa grown in the world. During the Farmer Field Schools, participants learn about integrated pest management (IPM) that provides alternatives to pesticide use in controlling fungal and insects on the farm.