Entry: David Noyes, World Cocoa Foundation

I recently had the opportunity to make a trip to Ghana to monitor progress being made on strengthening basic education and livelihoods through the ECHOES program. ECHOES is the World Cocoa Foundation's rural education program that builds capacity in cocoa-farming communities through programs combining literacy, livelihoods, and entrepreneurial activities. On a trip to Yawkrom, a small community of a few thousand people predominately engaged in cocoa farming, I had the chance to meet with Mr. J. K., a graduate of the out-of-school youth agricultural livelihoods program. This is a 12-month program where youth and young adults learn modern methods of cocoa farming, entrepreneurship and leadership skills, and are sensitized to HIV/AIDS, malaria, and child labor. Prior to the training, Mr. J. K. said that he did not see cocoa farming as a business; it was just something that he did to occupy himself and provide some income to support his family. He told me that, after completing the training, he now sees that when properly done cocoa farming can be quite a good business. Using the techniques learned in the program, he expects to more than triple his yields once his newly-planted farm begins producing. Laughing he told me, “If you ask a child in school if they want to be a cocoa farmer, most will say ‘no’, they do not want to do it. But this is because they do not yet know that when done properly, cocoa farmers can make even more money than their school teachers!” He pointed out that with the ECHOES in-school agricultural livelihoods program, the school children are beginning to see this now as well.

Mr. J.K. in front of one of his new cocoa trees. As a result of following the training received under ECHOES, Mr. J.K's trees are growing at a very healthy rate.

After graduating from the program, Mr. J. K. received a tool kit along with hybrid cocoa seedlings to plant his new cocoa farm. We made the long trek through the forest to visit his farm and see how it was doing a little over one year after having been planted. When using traditional methods, cocoa trees usually take several years before they begin to flourish and produce cocoa. With the new techniques he has learned (use of hybrid cocoa seeds, line and pegging to ensure proper tree spacing, use of shade trees and leguminous trees to enrich the soil), Mr. J. K. has trees that are already several feet tall and should begin to produce pods next year.

Entry: David Noyes, World Cocoa Foundation

With the ECHOES program, the World Cocoa Foundation is using innovative approaches to strengthen cocoa-farming communities in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire through education and livelihoods activities. In an effort to deliver relevant education to an even greater number of youth and young adults in these communities, ECHOES is establishing a number of ICT-enabled community resource centers. ICT stands for “information and communications technology.” The first of these centers has recently been opened in Nkonya, a small cocoa-farming community in the Western Region of Ghana.

Junior high school students at the Nkonya resource center learning the basics of the keyboard and typing.
The class is led by two youth from the community who have been trained in ICT under ECHOES.

The Nkonya center is equipped with computers that are specially designed to operate in conditions where the power supply is unreliable and temperatures are very high. The computers in the Nkonya center use solar power, consume very little energy, do not overheat (eliminating the need for air conditioning), and use flash memory for storage. The centers are also equipped with a video projector, photocopier, scanner, printer and an eGranary digital library. The eGranary is an external hard drive that has been loaded with thousands of web pages such as the open source encyclopedia Wikipedia. It also includes a search feature, allowing for simulated Internet access.

Mr. Kwarteng, the head teacher at the Junior High School in Nkonya, told me that “the coming of the center was a blessing.” He said that this year, students in their third year of junior high must take exams that include a portion on ICT. Most children in the rural areas have never seen a computer before, and teachers would be forced to teach ICT by drawing a picture of a computer on the chalkboard and describing how it works. Since the center has opened, students have been coming to weekly classes, and are learning basic computer skills from youth in the community that have been trained by ECHOES staff. Mr. Kwarteng says that now that they are learning ICT, the students are more eager to come to school, and he has noticed a reduction in absenteeism.

Junior high school student demonstrating how to draw the Ghanaian flag.

While visiting the center on a weekend to do some work on one of the computers, several students came by to use the computers as well. After finishing up my work, I walked around to see what the students were up to and witnessed something that reaffirmed an observation that I have made before about youth and technology - knowledge diffuses very quickly. With a little help from a friend that already knows how to do something on the computer (perhaps through participating in a training), someone who has not received training can learn very quickly. For instance, one of the children had learned how to draw the Ghanaian flag using a drawing program on the computer. Several children sat around him and watched while he explained how he did it, and soon they were all drawing the flag on the other computers. For me, this is a nice example of how the use of ICT can facilitate self-directed learning that is driven by the learner’s needs and interests. This is exactly the kind of capacity WCF supports through the ECHOES program.

Entry: Charlie Feezel, World Cocoa Foundation

Last week, I attended the Exposition at the National Education Association’s 2010 Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was moving to be among thousands who have dedicated their careers to improving the lives of countless numbers of children. I shared a good deal of information about the World Cocoa Foundation and our programs and found great interest in what we are doing to improve the lives of African children through our Empowering Cocoa Households with Opportunities and Education Solutions (ECHOES) program in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. I also heard some good ideas on how we might improve ECHOES by involving more American teachers.

First grade teacher Danette Espindola discusses program suggestions at the World Cocoa Foundation booth

Potentially, the best idea came from a first grade teacher at Westside Elementary in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Pictured here at the WCF booth with me, she suggested we create a program of short visits of teacher exchanges in which teachers may evaluate programs, conduct or participate in trainings and come up with other ideas to expand and improve the ECHOES program. We hope to integrate activities like these as ECHOES continues.

ECHOES, a public-private partnership between USAID’s Africa Education Division and the World Cocoa Foundation with some of its members, strengthens basic and livelihoods education in cocoa-growing communities in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

Guest Entry: Samuel Orisajo, Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria

From March to May 2010, Samuel Orisajo participated in the Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship Program’s Global Cocoa Initiative. The initiative is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Foreign Agricultural Service and implemented in partnership with the World Cocoa Foundation. During his fellowship, he had the opportunity to visit several World Cocoa Foundation-member companies.

I was privileged to attend the chocolatier’s workshop organized by Cargill in Litiz, Pennsylvania in the company of Tracey Duffey of the World Cocoa Foundation. I participated in the workshop along with small-scale businesspeople involved in chocolate making.

We listened to lectures on chocolate tempering methods and were taught the art of making chocolates. I was very excited to make my first ever chocolate in different sizes and shapes as you see me pictured here:

I took some of the chocolates I made to Nigeria, and it was so delicious! I was later presented with a certificate of attendance.

Also, I had the rare opportunity to visit Cargill’s chocolate museum where I saw several molds, ancient wares and instruments used in chocolate making from the past, and several sizes and brands of chocolate.

My appreciation goes to Courtney LeDrew, Joe Sofia, Amanda Frey and a host of tutors at Cargill for their facilitation.

Entry: Robert Peck, World Cocoa Foundation

This was my first trip to Dominican Republic (DR), a country whose friendly people and great history make it a special place to visit. As a cocoa-producing origin, DR has been a global leader in organizing farmers and incorporating new standards into the production systems to supply cocoa users with certified beans (including organic, Rain Forest, Fair Trade, UTZ and others). I’d like to specifically thank World Cocoa Foundation Members: Commercial Roig and Rizek Cacao for hosting me during this visit.

Distances in the DR have a different connotation from other producing origins, as within a 2-hour trip on paved highways you can travel from the country’s capital, Santo Domingo, to major producing areas such as San Francisco De Macoris. I was invited by Gabriel Roig to visit their processing facilities and was highly impressed with the logistic and traceability operations to ferment, dry, clean and pack cocoa while fully separating cocoa batches throughout the entire process.

From left to right: José María Pantaleon, Gabriel Roig, myself, and Francisco Lopez, during the visit at Commercial Roig’s processing facilities.

What made this trip an eye-opening experience is that DR is a showcase for interested parties on implementing and operating cocoa standards in origin countries. From this brief visit, I have some observations to share with you:

• BEAN QUALITY – Having attended various meetings on cocoa certification initiatives, the discussions have sometimes been dominated by discussing implementation challenges and monitoring issues around thousands of farmers in remote areas. The basic physical bean attributes NEED to continue to be the priority. No matter if a cocoa bean is being sold under the conventional market or certified by a specific program, the bean needs to be fermented properly. It will ultimately be processed by equipment that works efficiently when the raw material is uniform and clean. It will ultimately be used by a chocolate company to match a specific flavor profile. Bean quality will continue to be a basic priority.

• CONTROLS AND FOLLOWING PROCEDURES – As simple as it sounds, the ability to maintain records/data and constantly follow guidelines, become the key factors and determinants of a successful, trusted and reliable supply chain. No matter if beans are certified or for a main stream market, reliability and contract specifications are practices that must be fully satisfied by successful cooperatives and exporters.

• TRACEABILITY - Supply chain custody is what is at stake in the DR’s cocoa sector – a system where consumers of raw materials and finished goods can trace goods purchased back to a specific producer; a system where users of the commodity can monitor this key ingredient throughout the supply chain; a system that allows the exporter to personalize their services and tailor specific cocoa batches to buyer specifications; and a system where farmers incorporate standards into the traditional farming practices. From a farmer’s perspective, the specific scheme he/she decides to implement will redeem additional environmental, social and/or economic benefits.

But at the end of the day, the farmer makes a conscious decision and evaluates whether the additional income received offsets the additional effort undertaken to incorporate a new standard in his/her farming practices.

Myself and José Fernandez.

José has side grafted a large percentage of his trees and implemented two different certification standards; although the traditional harvest season is ending, his trees are loaded with pods and flowers for the next batch of pods!