Entry: David Noyes, World Cocoa Foundation

ECHOES, the World Cocoa Foundation's rural education program, is expanding opportunities for youth in rural cocoa-growing communities in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire with an approach that brings improved educational capacity to entire communities. The ECHOES approach has relied on a high level of community engagement from the beginning, ensuring that our interventions are demand-driven and thereby more sustainable. District level stakeholder meetings are held from time to time as part of our efforts to help communities to sustain and expand the improvements in rural education that have been seen under ECHOES. These meetings bring together village chiefs, opinion leaders, teachers, district level authorities, and other stakeholders.

A chief shares his views at the stakeholder meeting in Sefwi Wiawso

I recently had the opportunity to participate in the Sefwi Wiawso and Juaboso district stakeholder meetings in the Western Region of Ghana. I was accompanied by Mrs. Josephine Kuffour-Duah, from the Ghana Education Service (GES) in Accra. Mrs. Kuffour serves as the ECHOES liaison officer for GES. She came to observe first-hand the improvements in rural education that are being realized under ECHOES.

The meeting began with some introductory remarks from the district director of education, Mrs. Kuffour, and me. In her remarks, Mrs. Kuffour noted that the objectives of the ECHOES Alliance are all in line with government educational policies as the project works towards (i) increasing enrollment, (ii) improving school attendance, (iii) maintaining children in school to transition, (iv) raising the number of trained teachers, (v) increasing the livelihood opportunities for young adults and the youth, and (vi) improving literacy levels. She furthermore expressed her admiration for the development of models which have been appropriate and useful for education in the agricultural communities. These models help improve farm safety, and help share farm techniques that reduce the need for extra labor.

Chiefs, teachers, and IFESH teacher trainers interact at the stakeholders’ meeting in Juaboso

ECHOES implementing partners Winrock International, World Education, and IFESH each gave a brief overview of their various interventions before opening up a general discussion on how the innovations in rural education and livelihoods might be sustained after the project has come to an end. Village chiefs and teachers from ECHOES communities offered concrete plans for how to sustain and expand on the increased capacity that they have seen in their communities. Some plans offered included:

- Developing sound business models to ensure the profitability of the ICT-enabled (information and communications technology) resource centers being established under ECHOES

- Using income generated from school demonstration plots to carry out projects designed to improve educational capacity in the communities

- Using cocoa nurseries to develop an additional source of income to sustain the project

- Gathering community wellness committee members from the different ECHOES communities each month to meet at the local radio station and share with others their efforts in the communities to improve education

- Establishing regular communication with district governments to seek their financial support for projects with a demonstrated impact on educational outcomes

- Increasing involvement of school management committees and parent-teacher associations (PTAs) to implement improvements in school infrastructure

We were excited to hear from the chief of Krayawkrom that children are going to school more regularly now and the in-school agricultural education is going well. Out-of-school youth go to practical lessons and are learning new farming methods. The scholarships are helping mothers to put more effort into improving their businesses, and the community continues to benefit from school renovations. These district stakeholder meetings helped bring these points and many more to light, showing why the communities are so motivated to expand upon what they have learned through ECHOES.

In concluding the meeting, the chief of Ahokwaa agreed with leaders of other ECHOES communities that in the next –two to three months they would develop a sustainability plan in collaboration with ECHOES partners that are in the field and meet again to share their ideas.

Entry: Samuel Orisajo, Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria

Samuel Orisajo is a Cocoa Borlaug Fellow from Nigeria. The Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship Program Global Cocoa Initiative is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Foreign Agricultural Service in collaboration with the World Cocoa Foundation.

On March 17, 2010, I traveled by train to Philadelphia in the company of my mentor, Dr. David Chitwood of USDA/ARS, with the aim of on-site appreciation of the offloading of a ship with 292,000 bags of cocoa beans from Indonesia. On arrival, Mr. Harvey Weiner and Mr. Ari Weiner, the President and Director of Human Resources, respectively, of Dependable Distribution Services, Inc., (a member of the World Cocoa Foundation) briefed us thoroughly about the cocoa bean importing business in the United States. Then they led us on a tour of a large cocoa bean warehouse of 500,000 square feet. It was amazing; we had never seen such a large warehouse of cocoa beans before! Cocoa beans were sorted and cleaned before being re-bagged.

Cocoa Borlaug Fellow Samuel Orisajo and a shipment of imported cocoa beans in Philadelphia

We had the rare privilege of being on the ship and viewed the cocoa bags neatly arranged in the holds. The awesome experience was watching the offloading of the bags from the ship. A large crane lifted huge bundles of bags on pallets from the hold. Once the bags were on land, several fork lifts scurried throughout the warehouse, neatly arranging the bags in the warehouse. The trip will ever remain fresh in our memory.

A crane moves bundles of imported cocoa beans onto pallets from the hold

My appreciation goes to the USDA Cocoa Borlaug Fellows Program and the World Cocoa Foundation for sponsoring the trip, and also to Harvey and Ari Weiner for their facilitation.

Entry: Charlie Feezel, World Cocoa Foundation

The World Cocoa Foundation hosted a luncheon for Dr. Sarah Moten on April 12, 2010 to celebrate her retirement from ten years with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the Bureau for Africa. Dr. Moten joined USAID as the Coordinator for the Education for Development and Democracy Initiative (EDDI), a three-agency organization composed of USAID, the U.S. Department of State and the Peace Corps. She managed the affairs of EDDI and later became the Chief of the Education Division of the Africa Bureau. In that position, she managed the Africa Education Initiative and was instrumental in launching the ECHOES program as a public-private partnership between USAID and the World Cocoa Foundation to expand opportunities for rural youth through relevant education in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Over the years, she has become a valued colleague and strong supporter of WCF efforts in strengthening education capacity in rural Africa. We thank Dr. Moten for her support and wish her the best in her future endeavors.

Entry: Holly Houston, World Cocoa Foundation

How would you rank your life relative to the best possible life you can imagine? This question is one being posed and considered by several circles in the economic development arena. The concept of incorporating happiness as a measurement in overall well-being is not a new one but is once again generating buzz among many including economists, policy makers, and monitoring and evaluation experts. Years of research offers interesting data for discussion and consideration especially for those working to improve the livelihoods of others. The World Cocoa Foundation is committed to supporting efforts to improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers and their families and considers this research valuable to the design and execution of such efforts.

I recently have been reading articles on this topic and attended a Brookings Institution event last week which stimulated thoughtful dialogue among panelists and the audience. Several interesting findings and observations are summarized below.

Carol Graham, senior fellow of the Global Economy & Development and Foreign Policy Programs at the Brookings Institution, has dedicated her research to understanding and measuring happiness, and is the author of Happiness around the World: The Paradox of Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires (Oxford University Press, forthcoming). Carol and several other economists shared their observations last week at an insightful Brookings event titled “Happiness in an Age of Uncertainty”.

A less tangible and objective measure than traditional economic metrics, happiness economics is based on what people say, not what people do (i.e. spending and saving figures). In Dr. Graham’s research, survey results are based on respondents’ answers to how happy they are relative to how happy they could be and these have been tracked alongside other metrics, notably income. Panelists agree that there is a clear positive correlation with wealth and happiness. Poorer countries become happier as they become richer countries. The relationship seems to change however once basic needs have been met by adequate income; incremental income does not necessarily translate into incremental happiness. Panelists cited the U.S. and Japan as ranking among the wealthiest of nations but ranking lower on the happiness scale than less wealthy Scandinavian countries. Afghanistan’s happiness ranked at a similar level of overall Latin America happiness. Guatemalans are happier with their healthcare system than people in the more developed Chile.

How does one explain these trends? Adaptation to surrounding circumstances was cited as an important factor in assessing happiness as people are generally highly capable of adapting to changes and retaining their overall state of well being. When surrounded by others with a similar status, there is a propensity to feel more at ease with your current situation. Where adaptation seems more difficult is when people are faced with uncertainty, even if the outcome is positive. Nations that experienced very rapid economic growth versus slower growth tended to rank lower on the happiness scale. The notion of “keeping up with the Joneses” is clearly observed in rapid, high-growth areas where people who focus on amassing more often overestimate the satisfaction that more money will bring to their lives.

Researchers are quick to point out that while the relationship between higher income and greater happiness becomes fuzzy, the one between trusting relationships and happiness is clear. Among survey respondents, personal relationships, in addition to good health, rank as top factors supporting their state of happiness. And the concept of relationships goes beyond one’s family and friends. As NYTimes columnist David Brooks points out, “If you want to find a good place to live, just ask people if they trust their neighbors. Levels of social trust vary enormously, but countries with high social trust have happier people, better health, more efficient government, more economic growth, and less fear of crime.” In the development arena, the implications are substantial. Economic growth through higher income may not be the full picture. In order to see long-term success of improving the livelihoods of others, it is important to analyze and improve social bonds and foster trust among community neighbors and leaders.

Leaders across the political and economic spectrum are taking notice of these factors in promoting public and development policy. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is said to have added a measurement of wellbeing to its surveys. In 2009, President Sarkozy called for a shift in development thinking after a 2008 study on the measurement of economic development and social progress – a key message being “to shift emphasis from measuring economic production to measuring people's wellbeing.” While measuring happiness and wellbeing may not easily fit defined quantitative measures of progress, it is an important qualitative component to consider if we wish to fully improve the livelihoods of others.

Entry: Charlie Feezel, World Cocoa Foundation

This blog was contributed by Rose Donatien, an International Educator for Africa volunteer from the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH) working on the ECHOES program in Cote d’Ivoire.

The World Cocoa Foundation’s rural education project, ECHOES, has been working to improve the lives of youth and young adults in Côte d’Ivoire through an integrated approach that links basic education and livelihoods. Two components of the program that embody this approach are the functional literacy classes and the agricultural livelihoods training for out-of-school youth. Thanks to the impact of the literacy program in Biéby, Mr. Charles N’Din Koba has learned to read and write. Charles registered for the program with no previous education experience. He had never been to school. To date, Charles had one of the highest scores in the literacy final exam.

According to his tutor Mr. Christien Sombo, Charles never missed a day of class. “He often comes to me after class and asks for assistance,” said his tutor. Charles borrows the manual to take home and practices in his free time. During the reading test of the final exam, I congratulated Charles for his progress and efforts, a perfect score of 50/50. With a great big smile, Charles thanked me and thanked IFESH for the opportunity and his accomplishments.

Later that evening some of the learners and tutors visited me. The manual was on a table and I noticed Charles thumbing through it. He stopped at the foreword and said, “When I first opened this book in class I made it my goal to be able to read these paragraphs and to understand what these letters I.F.E.S.H really mean, and now I can read them and I thank you and IFESH for the difference you have made in my life.” He then continued to read and asked for help when needed. This year Charles has enrolled in the ECHOES agricultural livelihoods training being implemented by Winrock International. He is attending weekly agriculture classes with Mr. Sauveur Camara, the Winrock field agent in the region. As a result of his participation in the literacy classes, Charles is now able to take notes in the agriculture classes. At the end of the nine-month agriculture training, Charles will plant a new field of cocoa, using the improved farming techniques learned in class.

ECHOES is a partnership with WCF, a group of its member companies, and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Africa Education Initiative. ECHOES implements projects in cocoa-growing communities in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

Charles with literacy materials