Yaounde, Cameroon Africa(Cameroon News) -
Cargill is gearing up to ramp up the production of sustainable cocoa in Cameroon.
Cargill’s Cocoa and Chocolate division is setting up its Ivory Coast UTZ certification farmer training programme in Cameroon – an initiative that the processor expects will excessively ramp up sustainable cocoa output in the fourth largest producer country.
Cargill is making its presence felt in the country by way of a joint venture with Telcar, and, by way of this partnership, turns into the largest exporter of cocoa beans from that country.
The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) has issued the latest numbers of the output of cocoa in Cameroon in 2010/11 as 215,000 tonnes.
The cocoa processor indicated that it will undertake the farmer training scheme in Cameroon in tandem with Telcar. Cargill acknowledges that it can make use of its massive network and accessibility in Cameroon, including rural purchasing centers and warehouses with respect to flagging off the campaign.
The World Cocoa Foundation and Socodevi, a cooperative business set-up that takes care of farming drives in the developing economies of the world, are also stakeholders in the campaign, which works towards securing the UTZ certification for cooperatives in Cameroon by 2012.
Ramping Up Production
Harold Poelma managing director of the Cargill division, commented: “After the first year of UTZ certification, our pilot cooperatives in the Ivory Coast have seen on average a 47 per cent increase in yields, rising from 559 to 882 kilograms per hectare.
“As a result of the adoption of good agricultural practices around pruning and weeding, there also has been, on average, a 30 per cent reduction in major pests along with major improvement in the fermentation level of the beans and a decrease in humidity, due to improved drying and storage after harvest.
These results convince us that we are following the right strategy in the Ivory Coast, and we will now adopt this successful policy in other cocoa growing countries where we feel we can make a real difference.”
UTZ Certification premium
When questioned about whether such campaigns would create significant rises in the incomes of the poor farmers, Poelma told ConfectioneryNews.com that in the Ivory Coast:
“Better quality, and compliance with UTZ Certified standards, has been rewarded with an UTZ Certification premium, which last year amounted to a payment of over US$400,000 divided between around 1,600 farmers in two co-operatives.
The figures for the latest period, which are due in the next few weeks, are expected to be even higher. We believe training farmers to increase yields, improve quality and adopt more sustainable practices can directly contribute to increased earnings for cocoa farmers.”
The total objective of the programme, states Poelma, is to facilitate farmers to turn into better professionals. He indicated that the certification program also looks at planting strategies as well as pruning, weeding and cocoa fermentation techniques.
Moreover, an integral part of the programme, said Poelma, is the strengthening of farmers’ organizations, and based on their requirements the projects offers availability of cocoa seedlings, fertilizers and other technical know-how.
UTZ certification
UTZ certification is becoming increasingly recognized by industry and consumers along with the cocoa growing countries themselves, says Cargill.
Daan de Vries, programme manager for cocoa at UTZ Certified, stated in an interview recently that UTZ scheme is a comparatively “young one”, with the first certification issued in 2009 for a cooperative in the Ivory Coast but “it has huge potential.”
“Current certified production is 81,000 tonnes, with 55 certified projects in 11 producer countries in Latin America, Asia, and West Africa contributing to this output,” said de Vries.
He indicated that the scheme has grown radically, with registered UTZ certified cocoa output at 5,500 tonnes in 2009.
