Entry by: Kate, Rebecca, and Janell

We are three Sustainable Agriculture Peace Corps Volunteers, working in the province of Bocas del Toro, Panamá. We have been working on a province-wide cocoa farm management project, within a larger cocoa project spanning Central America, training small producers on farm and production improvement techniques. The goal of the project is to train local promoters and farmers in new technical strategies and teaching techniques, in order to increase production, while protecting local ecosystems and biodiversity. The promoters participate in ongoing trainings to continually improve their skills and methods of teaching and motivating farmers. They then transfer the technical knowledge to farmers by facilitating farmer field schools. We live in our respective communities over a two-year period and work alongside local promoters. Although we are still in the beginning of implementing this new teaching methodology, we are already seeing its effectiveness in empowering farmers.

These new methods of teaching and facilitating appear to reach a wider demographic, motivating youth and women that would not normally participate actively. In general, in the communities in which we work, men maintain and make decisions regarding their family cocoa farms. Women and youth traditionally only participate in the harvesting and the post harvest processing of the cocoa. Through these farmer field schools, we are seeing women and youth, alongside men, take interest in maintenance of the farms, including participating in pruning, planting, grafting, and farm planning.

Indigenous Naso women and children preparing soil for planting of cocoa seeds

Within each farmer field school, we are using games to involve the participants and keep the sessions lively and memorable

The empowerment of small farmers encourages greater implementation of new technologies. From the planting of 1300 cocoa plants one week after the session on tree nurseries, to farmers’ visits to our homes to study grafting techniques in the evening, the changes that we are seeing in the motivation of the participants will affect the future of the families of our communities.

Entry: Chelsea Coffin

This spring, I have had the opportunity to intern at the World Cocoa Foundation with the Empowering Cocoa Households with Opportunities and Education Solutions Alliance (ECHOES), which seeks to broaden possibilities for youth in the cocoa-growing areas of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. ECHOES is a public-private partnership, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and World Cocoa Foundation industry members. My initial interest in ECHOES lay in the prospect of an educational model that makes sense in a community driven by agriculture, and over the past 5 months, I have been able to see how that model is operationalized.

Previously, as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching in a Mozambican secondary school, I witnessed some of the ubiquitous challenges to formal education that are presented by a rural environment. Some children were unable to attend school due to budget constraints. Many enrolled students were unmotivated to learn in the formal classroom. Most graduates lacked relevant skills to be an effective member of their local economy. Although Mozambique doesn’t produce any cocoa, its educational system suffers from a similar disconnect between engaging classrooms, relevant curricula, and local possibilities. Unfortunately, the gaps between the purpose and execution of formal education extend beyond Mozambique, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire, which makes ECHOES exciting to me as a new possibility for education in the developing world.

ECHOES works within and alongside the school system to combat some of the most pressing issues in the quality and content of formal education. Teacher trainings and technology-equipped resource centers enhance the basic education experience while classes in agriculture and entrepreneurship give youths tools for their future and motivation to learn. Children are not the only beneficiaries, as adults can take functional literacy classes or receive grants to send their children to school and invest in a business. In these ways and others, ECHOES supports and supplements the current delivery of knowledge, which enables people in rural communities to take advantage of their personal and local resources.

This year, as a graduate student studying international development, I was in need of some quality and relevant experience myself. World Cocoa Foundation's ECHOES program has given me a solid example of a framework that expands choices and options, which too often define poverty, through empowerment and education.

Entry: Bill Guyton

Today I had the pleasure to attend the World Food Prize 2009 introduction at the United States Department of State. This year's award will be presented to Dr. Gebisa Ejeta on October 15, 2009 at the Iowa State Capitol. Dr. Ejeta's background is impressive. He aided in the development of sorghum hybrids resistant to drought and Striga weed. This achievement has lead to improved crop yields, benefiting millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa.

Speakers at the State Department event included:

Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton
Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack
Ambassador Kenneth Quinn, World Food Prize President
John Ruan, World Food Prize Chairman

Secretary Clinton began her remarks by explaining that one billion people around the world endure hunger on an ongoing basis. More efforts are needed to address chronic hunger which will be a priority for the Obama Administration. Hunger has a negative impact on economic development, threatens global security, and hampers health and education reform.

She applauded the work of Dr. Gebisa Ejeta, who has transformed farming in many parts of the world and saved millions of lives by identifying varieties of a key African crop resistant to drought and specific types of weeds.

Secretary Clinton outlined seven guiding principles of the Obama Administration to support the creation of effective, sustainable farming systems in regions around the world where the current methods aren't working:

1. Seek to increase agricultural productivity, by expanding access to quality seeds, fertilizers, irrigation tools, and the credit to purchase them and training to use them.

2. Stimulate the private sector, by improving the storage and processing of food and improving roads and transportation so small farmers can sell the fruits of their labor at local markets.

3. Maintain natural resources, so the land can be farmed well into the future. That includes helping developing communities adapt to climate change, which has had a major effect on the world's farms.

4. Expand knowledge and training by supporting R&D and cultivating the next generation of plant scientists.

5. Seek to increase trade so small-scale farmers can sell their crops far and wide.

6. Support policy reform and good governance, because sustainable agriculture flourishes in a clear and predictable policy and regulatory environment.

7. Support women and families. She noted that 70% of the world's farmers are women, but most programs that offer farmers credit and training target men.

These seven principles will guide the Administration and help set benchmarks to measure the impact of our efforts. The Obama Administration is committed to collecting data, assessing our progress, and when necessary, correcting our course.

Supporting sustainable agriculture won't be a side project of the Obama Administration. Attacking hunger at its roots will directly impact whether foreign policy goals are met. She invited all of us to join this effort.

I was honored to be part of this event today, paying tribute to leaders such as Dr. Gebisa Ejeta who have done so much to fight hunger and poverty.

Bill Guyton
World Cocoa Foundation

Entry by Charlie Feezel

These two posters are used by ECHOES partners in Ghana to train entrepreneurship trainers. The graduate trainers use the images to help community members to understand the cocoa value chain and chart commercial cocoa activities closer to home. In discussions of the events and the flow of goods the learners develop a deeper understanding of their business cycle and constraints and opportunities that impact their success. The entrepreneur can then create a more wholesome enterprise.

Click on the following links to download the posters as well as the training facilitator’s guide.

Entry by Rhodina B. Cena and Muhammad Junaid

Last April 27-29, 2009, together with Tracey Duffey, Rhodina B. Cena and Muhammad Junaid participated in the Pennsylvania Manufacturing Confectioners’ Association 63rd Annual Production Conference at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

During the conference, we were able to meet several member companies, including confectionery manufacturers, suppliers, equipment manufacturers, and industry service organizations worldwide. The conference also featured a comprehensive half-day supplier exhibition from manufacturers and suppliers from different countries.

The PMCA also organized a Student Outreach Program (SOP) led by committee chair, Barry Glazier where each student was assigned with a conference mentor. Rhodina’s mentor was Steve Genzoli of Ghirardelli Chocolate Company while Muhammad’s mentor was Judy Cooley of Hershey Company. We were much honored this year because the number of students has grown from 10 to 28 students representing 12 Domestic Universities and 2 International Universities (Rhodina B. Cena from the University of Southern Mindanao, Philippines and Muhammad Junaid from the University of Hassanudin, Indonesia). We also joined the exciting tour at the Warrell Corporation in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania where a lecture was given prior to visiting the plant.

A farewell get together party was also organized by the SOP committee to give us chance to say good-bye to one another and for us to say thank you for our participation. We also visited the Hershey Story Museum where we learned more about the man behind the chocolate bar and saw the exciting interactive exhibits and hands-on activities.

Before Rhodina returned to Tifton, Georgia, the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) organized a visit to USDA-ARS Beltsville, Maryland. Rhodina and Muhammad made a presentation about their work in their home country to the USDA-ARS Beltsville Scientists and USDA Borlaug Staff. Afterwards, we went on a tour of the different laboratories. Rhodina also had the chance to meet and interact with Dr. Fernando Vega, an entomologist and other scientists involved in Muhammad Junaid's fellowship training.

Finally, on May 5, we made our final presentation concerning our fellowship training at the USDA in Washington D.C.. The Norman Borlaug Office and the USDA staff, Tracey Duffey as the World Cocao Foundation Program Director for Southeast Asia and Africa, the Agricultural Attaché and Offy Ismojo from the Embassy of Indonesia were there to listen.

They were very happy about our accomplishments so far and subsequently, awarding of certificates was given by Marianne McElroy. We concluded this day with a radio interview with Susan Carter that was broadcasted on the USDA radio station.

Entry: Bill Guyton

I wanted to share an article written by reporter Olukayode Oyeleye (see below). We at the World Cocoa Foundation congratulate our colleagues in Ondo and Cross River States for their interest and on-going support of farmer field schools. Through programs like STCP (co-funded by USAID and World Cocao Foundation members) and the Cocoa Livelihoods Program (co-funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 11 leading chocolate companies), we are helping thousands of cocoa farmers in Nigeria improve yields, incomes and marketing practices. These and other efforts have received the active support of local government and community groups in the cocoa growing areas of Nigeria.

Beyond Field School, Cocoa Farmers Now Have More Money For Higher Values
By Olukayode Oyeleye

Robo Adhuze of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria observed that STCP is constrained by funds, limiting its publicity reach, a view also corroborated by Aladesaiye, the programme manager of the Ondo State Agricultural Development Programme. Aladesaiye said he would want steps to be taken to improve on publicity, and would particularly want to see sources open for the funding of such activities.

Entry by David Noyes

Greetings! My name is David Noyes and I am just starting here at the World Cocoa Foundation as the new Education Intern, working with Charlie Feezel on the ECHOES program. I recently returned to the US after working for two years in Burkina Faso as a secondary education Peace Corps volunteer. In Burkina, I taught math, physics, and chemistry at one of the largest public high schools in the country. While there I did a lot of work on introducing technology-based teaching methods at my school. We did this through the construction of an Internet café at the school, the installation of a video projector in a teaching laboratory, and teacher training on how to find resources online and how to use the relevant software to incorporate these resources into lessons in the classroom. This allowed teachers to show things such as animations of blood flow through the heart and simulations of physics and chemistry experiments when previously their only teaching resources were chalk and a chalkboard.

Working at the World Cocoa Foundation with the ECHOES program is a very exciting opportunity as it gives me the chance to work on a project that seeks to improve the quality and relevance of education in rural West Africa. As a teacher in West Africa, I often saw my students struggle with lessons that seemed far removed from anything they encountered in their day-to-day lives. Students were often left with the impression that math and science was something you learned about at school, but that had little relevance outside the classroom. The ECHOES program addresses these kinds of issues by helping to make education more relevant and applicable to the lives of youth in their communities.

I am already very impressed by the great work that World Cocoa Foundation and its partners are doing, which I got a great introduction to while helping out at the recent partnership meeting. I look forward to making my own contribution while working on ECHOES!

Entry: Bill Guyton

Please see below an article written by Lukong Pius Nyuylime of All Africa Press. World Cocoa Foundation is pleased to be a major funder of the Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP) in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development. I had the opportunity to visit some of the farmer field schools in Cameroon a couple of years ago (please see my earlier blogs). The program in Cameroon, under Jonas Mva Mva's leadership, has been progressing well. We commend the Government of Cameroon for support of sustainble cocoa in the country.

Cameroon: Farmers Trained on Cocoa Cultivation Practices
Lukong Pius Nyuylime
29 June 2009

Poor use of these products is partly responsible for low production, Evenga said. A hectare of land in Cameroon today produces between 200 and 500 kilograms of beans which is far below standard production of between 700 kilograms and 1.5 tons a hectare.