Entry: Bill Guyton
We are pleased today to announce a new, $40 million program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and chocolate industry companies to significantly improve the livelihoods of approximately 200,000 cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Liberia. The innovative, five-year Cocoa Livelihoods Program will focus on enhancing farmer knowledge and competitiveness, improving productivity and quality, promoting crop diversification and improving supply chain efficiency. These initiatives will help increase farmers’ incomes and significantly improve cocoa community well-being.
The program will be managed by the World Cocoa Foundation and be implemented through a consortium of five organizations including ACDI/VOCA, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)/Sustainable Tree Crops Program, SOCODEVI and TechnoServe. In addition to the $23 million in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, over $17 million in financial support and in-kind contributions come from the private sector: major branded manufacturers The Hershey Company, Kraft Foods and Mars, Incorporated; cocoa processors Archer Daniels Midland Company, Barry Callebaut, Blommer Chocolate Company and Cargill; and supply chain managers and allied industries Armajaro, Ecom-Agrocacao, Olam International Ltd. and Starbucks Coffee Company. The governments of the participating West African countries will support and be full partners in the program’s implementation.
Implementation plans and site selection for the West Africa Cocoa Livelihoods Program will be finalized over the coming months. On-the-ground program activities are expected to begin in late 2009 and early 2010. Once underway, the program will train farmers in better production techniques, quality improvement and business skills; professionalize farmer organizations to better meet member needs; and improve farmer access to agricultural inputs and improved-quality seedlings. The project will also improve farmers’ access to market information and opportunities for diversification into alternative food and cash crops to maximize farmer income and security.
Thank you to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, our company sponsors, the program implementors and the West African government supporters who helped to make this a reality. We also wish to recognize the key role that our current partners such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have played in helping to support our on-going programs such as the Sustainable Tree Crops Program and EHCOES Alliance.
Comments (4)
We wish to thank the Bill Gates Foundation for this initiative in the fight against poverty that affects almost all of our people in Africa.
In fact we are an NGO (IVECC: Ivory Coffee Cocoa Area) of the Ivory Coast and we are interested in this project since our goals coincide with yours ie the fight against poverty, improving living conditions for producers of cocoa-coffee, improving the quality and quantity of production of coffee and cocoa.
Thus, we initiated a project done, give the possibility to young school leavers in 1000 of different regions producing coffee and cocoa in Cote d'Ivoire to become the owner of at least one hectare of plantation of coffee and cocoa. We would thus have information relating to the implementation of your project to potential collaboration, because we really need support to fight against this scourge that kills more than all sorts of diseases in Africa: poverty.
Posted by IVECC(Ivoire-Espace-Café Cacao) | March 7, 2009 6:34 AM
Posted on March 7, 2009 06:34
We wish to thank the Bill Gates Foundation for this initiative in the fight against poverty that affects almost all of our people in Africa.
In fact we are an NGO (IVECC: Ivory Coffee Cocoa Area) of the Ivory Coast and we are interested in this project since our goals coincide with yours ie the fight against poverty, improving living conditions for producers of cocoa-coffee, improving the quality and quantity of production of coffee and cocoa.
Thus, we initiated a project done, give the possibility to young school leavers in 1000 of different regions producing coffee and cocoa in Cote d'Ivoire to become the owner of at least one hectare of plantation of coffee and cocoa. We would thus have information relating to the implementation of your project to potential collaboration, because we really need support to fight against this scourge that kills more than all sorts of diseases in Africa: poverty.
Posted by IVECC(Ivoire-Espace-Café Cacao) | March 7, 2009 6:41 AM
Posted on March 7, 2009 06:41
To IVECC- I'd love to learn more about the work your organization is doing. Do you have a website or email address for corresponding? Many thanks, Teresa
Posted by Teresa | April 6, 2009 2:45 PM
Posted on April 6, 2009 14:45
greetings from ngueh .A. godlove,cassava farm limbe south west province cameroon.
to bill guyton the president of the world cocoa foundation.
sir i have the pleasure to writte to you this letter, am having an N.G.O in this organization we are dealing with cocoa,i have a cocoa farm that cover 8 acree of land, as for the workers they are 25 in number, so i am looking for partnership.
this is my araes of deficuties.
the farm is not doing well, because of the cameker we are using to spray with,last year 23-06-2008 we havested 5000kl of cocoa.
why this year we are beliving GOD for better havest.we did well in 2005 and in 2006 when we where been asisted by mr frager gouty a geman christian brother who later run away with our good worth 45million cfa france up today we have not heard of him.
so sir we need your help what kind of cameker can you proscrip for us to use?
and we also need some buyers, we have havested some already, about 85kilo grame.
thanks for your assistance.
ngueh akutte godlove is the president of C.F.O
Cocoa Farm Organization
contact;number;(237 96707256
godlove200882@yahoo.co.uk
programmes coordinator
etemi julios
contact number; (237 75658292
praiseuorgod@yahoo.com
financial secatery
kand queeniver
contact number (237 75205262
praisequeen@yahoo.com
inspector
praise jedidiah
akutteg77@gmail.com
n
Posted by ngueh akutte godlove | May 1, 2009 3:54 PM
Posted on May 1, 2009 15:54