Entry: Demanie Musu B. Flomo - Borlaug Fellow

Date: October 12-16 2009
Venue: Des Moines, Iowa

The World Food Prize Symposium was held to honor Dr. Gebisa Ejeta the 2009 World Food Prize Laureate from Ethiopia. It was attended by approximately 1,000 people from around the world with different cultural backgrounds to explore the topic: “What will the world eat? U.S. Impact on Global Food Security”.

The event brought together academe of agricultural scientists and experts. They shared their expertise and knowledge on Dr. Borlaug’s past work, identified some future challenges, and spoke of the need to deal with the causes and not the symptoms by understanding the science and supporting sustainable systems for productivity.

It was a privilege for me being part of this remarkable event because it widens my horizons on basic issues faced within the agriculture sector around the world-problems and some approachable solutions, as well as the agricultural production in the U.S. especially Iowa. I was also excited because of the agriculture tour organized by USDA/FAS for the Borlaug Fellows to different research stations and farms learning new ideas to enhance my knowledge and, making new friends and contacts, as well as seeing Bill Gates deliver the keynote address.

Demanie Musu Flomo is the first Cocoa Borlaug Fellow from Liberia. She is completing her fellowship at the University of Tennessee where she is studying market information systems and cocoa quality issues.

World Cocoa Foundation is pleased to be part of a partnership with the USDA Borlaug Fellowship Program.

Entry: Clementine Leahy, World Cocoa Foundation

The World Cocoa Foundation would like to thank all participants to the 16th Partnership meeting that was held in Brussels on October 14-15, 2009. Over 200 people from government, non-government organizations (NGO's), chocolate companies and researchers attended the two day conference.

Subjects covered included: connecting the farmer to consumer; building capacity at the community, institutional and individual levels; applied science and extension; standard systems in the cocoa sector; recent production and consumption trends; and social issues in commodity chains such as child labor.

The meeting presentations are now available on our website at the following link.

We are thankful to your support of sustainable cocoa efforts and look forward to seeing each of you at the 17th World Cocoa Foundation Partnership Meeting in May 2010.

Entry: Catherine Alston, World Cocoa Foundation

Recently I returned from the Steering Committee meeting for the Cocoa Livelihoods Program (CLP), which took place in Accra, Ghana. The Cocoa Livelihoods Program strives to double the income of one-third of the West and Central African cocoa-farming households by increasing capacity building, improving marketing efficiency, increasing productivity and the cocoa quality at the farm level and expanding the farmers’ competitiveness on diversified cocoa farms. The Steering Committee is the governing body of the program and the representatives of the 12 company contributors, technical partners and national governments come together to ensure that this program will have a valuable impact on the lives of the farmers and encourages sustainable cocoa production.

On the first day of the meetings, October 19, the Ghana Cocoa Board hosted a program launch for the CLP. During the launch interested parties in Ghana and the local press heard about the program from Bill Guyton, WCF President; Mbalo Ndiaye, CLP Director; Marina Morari, CSR Manager at Barry Callebaut; Richard Rogers of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Dr. Yaw Adu-Ampomah, Deputy Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board and Fifi Kwetey, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning. Following the two-day meeting, the Steering Committee members joined the guest of IITA/STCP on a cocoa-farm field trip where we distinctly saw the differences that can be made by cocoa famers who properly use input supplies and maintain their trees as recommended by the Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP).

With the guidance of the Steering Committee and technical support from our partners such as IITA/STCP, the Cocoa Livelihoods program is sure to make a lasting and meaningful difference in the lives of the participating farmers.

Entry: Charlie Feezel, World Cocoa Foundation

Late last month the ECHOES team conducted a baseline study. We worked with teachers, farmers, households and community leaders to survey the current level of education and skills in the area surrounding Sefwi Wiwaso, in the Western Region of Ghana as well as a number of communities in Côte d’Ivoire. The tabulations of the study will help us measure the success of the ECHOES program which is designed to improve opportunities for youth and young adults in cocoa growing communities in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Pictured here is IFESH International Educator Joetta Brown, center, convening a focus group with teachers in Futa, Ghana.

Entry: Bill Guyton, World Cocoa Foundation

For the past week, I have been traveling in Asia. My trip started in Tokyo with visits to our Japanese member companies. From there, I flew to Indonesia to attend the 16th Cocoa Producers' Alliance (COPAL) International Cocoa Research Conference (ICRC). The event was co-hosted with the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute (ICCRI).

This has been a great venue for a cocoa research conference. As many of the readers know, Indonesia is the third largest producer of cocoa, behind Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. The majority of the farms are located on the island of the Sulawesi. Similar to West Africa, cocoa farming is a family business, typically on land holdings less than five to ten acres. Through applied research and farmer outreach, there are opportunities to improve the cocoa yields and incomes of these farmers.

The last ICRC meeting was held in Costa Rica three years ago, so this was a good opportunity for me to learn about some of the latest findings from the meeting participants, many who are leading scientists in their countries.
Over the past few days, we have heard presentations on cocoa genetics, molecular biology, agroforestry, soil nutrition, and crop protection. For a non-scientist, the sessions on genetic and molecular biology were challenging at times to follow, but the work is helping our understanding of quality and productivity improvements to benefit cocoa farmers and the value chain. Of particular interest to me were the presentations of the positive role cocoa trees can play in carbon sequestration.

I was pleased that two of the USDA Cocoa Borlaug Fellows from Indonesia and the Philippines were able to participate in the meetings along with many of our other partners from the NGO, cocoa research and private sector communities. Tracey Duffey, World Cocoa Foundation Program Director, arrives at the Indonesian Conference today.

From here, I will fly to Vietnam to visit cocoa program sites. I will be traveling with our important partners from the Vietnamese Cocoa Committee, Nong Lam University, and local institutions.

I would like to personally thank Sona Ebai, Director General of COPAL and our colleagues at ICCRI for their leadership in organizing the Indonesian conference. My next blog entry will cover highlights from Vietnam.

Entry: Bill Guyton, World Cocoa Foundation

I just returned from Vietnam, the final stop on a three country trip. Other countries visited during the 10 day trip included Japan where I met with World Cocoa Foundation members, and Indonesia to attend the 16th International Cocoa Research Conference.

My brief stay in Vietnam was very rewarding and interesting. Cocoa cultivation in the country dates back to 1878, when the French first introduced the crop, along with several other cash crops. Since then, cocoa has been farmed on a relatively minor scale. In 1994, the Vietnamese market was opened to the West. During this period, cocoa prices were depressed, thus farmers had limited interest to invest in cocoa production.

Today, the global situation and outlook for cocoa are strikingly different. Cocoa prices are at historically high levels and farmers are eager to learn about how to grow the crop sustainably. I had the opportunity to see first hand how farmers in the DakLak Province are growing cocoa in association with other tree crops, such as cashew and bananas.

In 2000, the World Cocoa Foundation began our support of Vietnamese cocoa through an ongoing grant to Nong Lam University (NLU), under the guidance of Dr. Phuoc and his wife Tuyet. Additionally, WASI research and extension centers in the provinces have contributed significantly by providing cocoa field trials and training farmers on improved cultivation methods.

In 2005, Dr. Tong Khiem, Director General of NAFEC, helped to form the Vietnam Cocoa Committee (VCC) which now includes members from all of the major cocoa growing provinces. My trip coincided with the VCC annual meeting, where I was invited to participate and learn about the achievements and plans for the Vietnamese cocoa sector.

During the one day VCC meeting, I learned that an estimated 12,208 hectares of cocoa has been planted in Vietnam, a 19 % increase over 2008. The rate of area expansion has been relatively slow, based mainly on support from cocoa programs financed through local and international partners. Current production is located in the South and Highland provinces of Bến Tre, Tiền Giang, Bình Phước, Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu, ĐakLak, Đak Nông, An Giang, Bình Định, Lâm Đồng, Quảng Ngãi, Bình Thuận, and Phú Yên.

The Ministry of Agriculture and partners have helped to train an estimated 6,000 farmers and extension agents on various techniques of cocoa production. Revised training materials on cocoa cultivation techniques will be published in 2010, and updated cocoa information is provided under the cocoa section on the Vietnam Agriculture Extension Website.

Some of the primary cocoa programs in Vietnam supported by international partners include:

- Nong Lam University Cocoa Project – World Cocoa Foundation
- USAID - SUCCESS Alliance, implemented by ACDI/VOCA
- LNV – Holland to support cocoa development and building demonstration models.
- Helvitas – Swiss – Forestry University to implement various programs of research, supporting farmers, and training activities in Bến Tre and Tiền Giang.
- World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in cooperation with the framework established between Vietnam-Holland, to promote research activities of cocoa.

In the coming year, the primary goals of VCC will be to promote increased farmer training, enhance management of varieties and food quality, increase the budget for research, improve the quality of nursery gardens, and expand international cooperation. The 2020 cocoa production target was set at 80,000 metric tons.

The following day, I visited the cocoa clonal trials in the Đồng Nai Province. This cocoa research program is supported by Mars Inc., NLU, and the World Cocoa Foundation. I was impressed that the research facility had a well-established drip irrigation system. From what I understand, the cost to install this equipment is roughly $700 per hectare and can easily increase yields by over 400kg/hectare during research trials.

I would like to thank Dr. Tong Khiem and the VCC members for graciously inviting me to attend their annual meeting and to Dr. Phuoc and Tuyet for their partnership with theWorld Cocoa Foundation through our grant to Nong Lam University.