Entry: Bill Guyton, World Cocoa Foundation
In early September, I had the opportunity to visit several cocoa farming communities in Cote d’Ivoire. This visit was particularly rewarding for me, since I was able to not only see the impact the WCF-sponsored programs, but also the strengthening collaboration among our partners on the ground. Joining me on the trip were Jean Yves Couloud (STCP), Euphrasie Aka (STCP), Fanny Saraho (IFESH), and Patrice Kassi (Winrock). Peter Murphy, a reporter from Reuters, also accompanied us on the trip and wrote a brief article.
N’Gbasso is a small village 150 kilometers from Abidjan where WCF and its partners are supporting farmer training and education programs. We attended a Sustainable Tree Crops Program farmer field school where we heard first hand some of the challenges of cocoa farming. Through the STCP program, farmers are learning how to improve soil fertility, control diseases and pests, diversify their tree crops, and form farmer support groups. In the village, IFESH is working with farmers and their families to increase functional literacy. We also visited a farmer cooperative which was working with our partners to provide improved tree seedlings to local farmers.
While IFESH has focused more on teacher training and traditional education, Winrock concentrates on vocational education for in-school and out-of-school youth. They have established youth agriculture clubs and also family scholarship programs for women to help pay school-related expenses and send their children to school. We visited one of their project sites where women explained how the family scholarship program had helped them to establish sewing businesses.
The following day, we were warmly greeted by the community of Alepé where women and youth are participating in an IFESH functional literacy program. They explained how, in addition to literacy skills, they learned some of the risks associated with farm safety including heavy loads, machete uses, and pesticide applications. I also noticed signs on the road for a GTZ (Germany Development Agency), which helps to sensitize communities regarding child labor on cocoa farms. The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) is also a leader in this area, along with the Government of Cote d’Ivoire, under the leadership of the Cocoa Taskforce, Ministry of Civil Service and Employment, Ministry of Agriculture and others.
On my final day, I had the pleasure of meeting with Family Health International (FHI) which is working in collaboration with STCP to develop health training on HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention for farmer field schools. The day concluded with a debriefing with Mme Amouan Acquah Assouan, head of the Cote d’Ivoire Cocoa Taskforce, as well as the Minister of Education.
Although there are many positive efforts on the ground, it is clear that much more is possible. The World Cocoa Foundation looks forward to continuing these programs and seeing how we can reach out to other partners who share the goal of improving conditions for cocoa growing communities in West Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.