Entry: Charlie Feezel, World Cocoa Foundation

On the occasion of WCF’s Ghana Cocoa Tour (see Sourcing Hope) a number of travelers were very impressed with the good work the staff and administration of St. Joseph’s Training College in Bechem were doing to prepare there students to become highly effective primary school teachers.

They were even more impressed by the way the college was able to overcome challenges with their unreliable supply of electric power. The absence of steady power was a major stumbling block in students being able to use their teaching and learning materials resource center which had been pretty well equipped by the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH).

On their return from Ghana the travelers pooled some of their own resources and purchased a pair of generators that will permit use of the center day and night. The Generators arrived in country and were recently delivered to St. Joseph’s by Mr. Kwesi Dzidzienyo, Country Representative of IFESH-Ghana. Pictured below (left to right) are Mr. Victor Mante, the Director of Teacher Education Division of the Ghana Education Service; Mr. Dzidzienyo, Country Representative of IFESH-Ghana and Principal C.D.B. Mensah, Principal of St. Joseph's Training College, Bechem. Principal Mensah wrote this letter of thanks to the folks who sent the gift of electricity.

Entry: Tracey Duffey, World Cocoa Foundation

As people around the world celebrate Valentine's Day this week on February 14 - with some attending parties and fundraisers or buying gifts for loved ones, there are many of us interested in finding our own small way to give back to communities. Specifically for this holiday, we can focus on cocoa farming communities around the world in West Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

Carla Durham, owner of The Cake Bar in Washington, DC is one such person. A dynamic entrepreneur and pastry chef extraordinaire, Carla contacted me last year to introduce her virtual dessert bar and lounge. She explained how throughout the year she holds a variety of holiday-themed parties and donates a portion of the ticket sales to a good cause. And for this year's 2nd Annual Valentine's Party she wanted to donate a portion of the ticket sales and silent auction to a World Cocoa Foundation supported project.

I spent last Friday night attending The Cake Bar's 2nd Annual Valentine's Party and showed a cocoa farming training video developed by local Ghanaian farmers who had graduated from Farmer Field Schools. Through the support of WCF, the graduates developed a series of training videos for women cocoa farmers. The party attendees enjoyed the chocolate cake desserts created by Carla while learning how cocoa is farmed. The cocoa ingredients were donated by WCF member, Dagoba Organic Chocolate.

I was joined by the President of the World Cocoa Foundation, Bill Guyton and two of our colleagues from The African World, Kwame Clement and Welma Redd who recently produced a video of Ghana cocoa sustainability and education programs supported by WCF entitled "Teaching Skills: Improving Lives".

Aside from enjoying the tastes of all of the scrumptious cake pastries, a highlight of the evening was the results of the silent auction and knowing that the auction donations were going to buy training books for women cocoa farmers of video viewing clubs in Ghana. We thank Carla and all of her guests for supporting the women cocoa farmers education program. Please check back for an update on the final total of the fundraiser donation and the number of training books that will be distributed to the women cocoa farmers - thanks to Carla and The Cake Bar's Valentine's Fundraiser. We look forward to making this an annual contribution and sharing stories of the women farmer beneficiaries.

For any readers who would like to make a donation to print additional training book copies, you are welcome to send your contribution to the World Cocoa Foundation. The cost of each book is USD 30 - which is a direct contribution.

Photo: Carla Durham of The Cake Bar

Entry: Charlie Feezel, World Cocoa Foundation

The U.S. Botanic Garden is nestled in the heart of the nation's Capitol Hill and it’s nearly as old as Washington, D.C. itself. Last night, February 12, we held a reception at this lovely conservatory entitled “Chocolate from the Rainforest”. That it happened during an ice storm made the event seem even more warm and cozy inside. Our guests were able to wander throughout the various climates from tropical to desert and could be seen having casual conversations among the palms or just enjoying the many fragrances in the orchids exhibit in the Garden Court. A few of our distinguished guests included Ambassadors Charles Koffi of Côte d’Ivoire and Sudjadnan Parnohidiningrat of Indonesia and Representative Donald Payne as well as Mr. Vic Leviste of the Embassy of the Philippines, Dr. Lyndel Meinhardt and Dr. Gary Samuels of USDA and Mr. Joe Kitts of USAID. We extend a warm “Thank you” to all of our members and partners who braved the icy night to enjoy this event.

Photo: Amb. Sudjadnan Parnohidiningrat of Indonesia received a cocoa tree after delivering opening remarks.

Entry: Bill Guyton

On February 14th, Valentine’s Day, I was asked to participate in the radio show “Democracy Now” in the United States. I felt the live interview would be an opportunity to discuss with journalist Christian Parenti about his recent travels to Cote d’Ivoire and some of his concerns regarding cocoa farming and marketing.

During his brief visit to Cote d’Ivoire, Mr. Parenti apparently was unable to visit any of the on-the-ground programs sponsored by the World Cocoa Foundation and our partners, including the Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP) and our educational programs which are reaching thousands of cocoa farming families in West Africa. STCP farmer graduates report income improvements of 20-55% through better farming techniques. Farmers also learn about HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention, child labor awareness, and crop diversification.

Our partners in Cote d'Ivoire include the International Institute of Agriculture (IITA), ANADER (local extension service), Family Health International (FHI), Winrock International (non-formal education and youth leadership programs), International Foundation for Education and Self Help (training of teachers), and the Cote d’Ivoire Ministries of Agriculture, Education, and Labor. The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), ILO/IPEC, GTZ (German Development Agency) and others are doing important work on child labor prevention in consultation with the government of Cote d’Ivoire.

It is unfortunate Parenti also was unable to meet with any of our partners in Cote d’Ivoire, nor allow me the opportunity to fully explain the programs during the discussion. As I mentioned in the interview, I extend the invitation for him to visit West Africa again and meet with the many organizations who are working in partnership to support rural cocoa communities in West Africa.

World Cocoa Foundation is an organization which supports sustainable cocoa programs in West Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America. Our members include 63 chocolate companies and trade associations. www.worldcocoa.org.

Entry: Bill Guyton, World Cocoa Foundation

We were contacted this week by the International Cocoa Verification Board (ICVB) www.CocoaVerification.net who asked if we could share a request for proposal (RFP) for the Verification of Certification Activities in West African cocoa farming. The attached documents are being circulated to civil society, government, and industry representatives active in the field of cocoa and/or child labor in order to recruit verifiers to take part in an independent, third party verification process.

The surveys by the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are available on the ICVB website as well as on the World Cocoa Foundation website. For further questions please contact Miriam Swaffer at MSwaffer@Verite.org
Verité Inc., Secretariat of the International Cocoa Verification Board.

Entry: Kwasi Bosompem, Let's Go Africa Foundation

Throughout the world, people can find incidences of poverty; situations where average parents struggle to put food on the table and pay for their children’s education. In rural sectors of the developing and developed world, children work with their parents on farms to help support family income and to learn about growing crops.

Growing up in Akim Oda, a small town in Eastern Region in Ghana, farming was a household duty. My father's cocoa farm occupied about 2 to 3 acres. Every Saturday, the pleasure and joy to work and have fun under the cocoa tree was a day that no child in the family wanted to miss. At an early age of ten years old, our Saturday mornings in the cocoa farms was nothing different from the eight year old kids that I see on Saturdays at a local mall helping their parents with the family t-shirt selling business.

Unfortunately, not all the kids in my village were fortunate like myself, some came from very poor households and did not go to school but had to work all week to support the family.

The bigger picture and problem in Africa, is the informal sector in cities and towns where children sell items on the streets to support themselves and their families, instead of attending school. Based on my experiences, this problem can be found in places such as Accra, Ghana, Lagos, Nigeria and parts of Johannesburg, South Africa. The situation is even worse in other unstable economies in Africa.

In order to address issues of poverty, investments are needed by the public and private sectors. If organized properly, these investments can provide jobs, schools, roads and health facilities to needy populations.

The chocolate industry’s investments are needed and welcomed by African countries. Africa can be a risky place to invest, but many of these companies have taken the risk to make profits and at the same time to sustain the local economies, resources and social investment programs.

Governments play an important role in providing a safe and transparent environment for the private sector to operate. Government should reinvest resources back into community development efforts. The combined efforts of “public-private partnerships” is the best path to encourage meaningful, and sustainable development.

It is clear that Christian Parenti does not understand this. His comments seem to me to really miss any understanding of Africa. I hope he can spend more time on the continent in the future so he can really learn about what he seems to have missed on his last trip.

Kwasi Bosompem was born in Ghana and is the founder of Let's Go Africa Foundation, a nonprofit group promoting partnership and providing educational services for the disadvantaged population groups who have interest in Africa.

Entry: Bill Guyton

Today I attended the AIARD 2008 Capitol Hill Forum and Riley Memorial Lecture in Washington, DC. The theme of this year"s annual forum was "Agriculture; The Fuel for Sustainable Development". Dr. Joachim von Braun, Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) gave an interesting presentation on world food demand and supply equations. It is clear that prices are continuing to rise for key commodities such as rice, maize and wheat over the past decade. This is due to a number of factors including income growth, biofuels, and lack of technology to respond to population growth trends. In order to address the supply/demand imbalance, he outlined the following;

Harmful Actions:
*stop exports (create trade barriers)
*providing food subsidies to "vocal" middle class
*outdated production systems

Recommended Actions:
*global political attention at the highest level
*policy actions that protect vulnerable populations (example, food aid programs, school feeding programs)
*investment in services, rural infrastructure and financing for small farmers
*global research and development to accelerate productivity

Rob Townsend, Senior Economist, World Bank, spoke on the perspective of the "2008 World Development Report". He identifed the need of increased research and development, conservation of genetic resources, and reduction in transboundary animal and plant diseases. Dr. Townsend mentioned that over the past two decades, the portion of the overseas development assistance (ODA) budget for agriculture has declined from 12 percent to 3 percent today.

Janet Poley, President of the American Distance Education Symposium spoke on the delivery and access to education in our time of information technology.

Rounding out the program was an excellent presentation by Dr. Mark Keenum, USDA Undersecretary of Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services.

As I listened to the presentations, I couldn't help but think about the role of cocoa in agricultural development. A third of the crop is lost each year to diseases and pests, infrastructure in many areas are poor, and cocoa farming practices are outdated. The World Cocoa Foundation partnership programs are working, but greater attention needs to be placed on research and development. World Cocoa Foundation is planning an event in the next few months to challenge new thinking around applied technology and education to further our efforts. More will be shared on this in the next few weeks.