Bill and the Chocolate Factories

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Written by Healthy Newspaper

Wednesday, 25 February 2009 19:39

Seattle, Washington, February 2009 – Earlier this month, the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) announced a $40 million program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and chocolate industry companies to significantly improve the livelihoods of approximately 200,000 cocoa farmers in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Liberia. Cocoa is West Africa's largest agricultural export, providing a living for nearly two million small landholding farmers and their families in the region. However, too many grow cocoa on a subsistence basis, failing to realize the economic benefit this important crop can provide. The innovative, five-year West Africa Cocoa Livelihoods Program will focus on enhancing farmer knowledge and competitiveness, improving productivity and quality, promoting crop diversification and improving supply chain efficiency. These initiatives will help increase farmers' incomes and significantly improve cocoa community well-being, the group stated. In addition to the $23 million from the Gates Foundation, over $17 million in financial support and in-kind contributions come from the private sector: major branded manufacturers The Hershey Company, Kraft Foods and Mars, Incorporated; cocoa processors Archer Daniels Midland Company, Barry Callebaut, Blommer Chocolate Company and Cargill; and supply chain managers and allied industries Armajaro, Ecom-Agrocacao, Olam International Ltd. and Starbucks Coffee Company. The governments of the participating West African countries will support and be full partners in the program's implementation. "We know from experience that cocoa can play a significant, positive role in improving farm family incomes in the developing world," said Bill Guyton, president, World Cocoa Foundation. "However, many cocoa farmers today lack the practical knowledge and organizational support needed to grow this unique crop profitably and sustainably. Thanks to our new partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we will be able to dramatically expand our efforts to reach these farmers in West Africa and to promote economic and social development as well as environmental conservation in cocoa-growing communities." Implementation plans and site selection for the West Africa Cocoa Livelihoods Program will be finalized over the coming months. The project will also improve farmers' access to market information and opportunities for diversification into alternative food and cash crops to maximize farmer income and security. SOURCE: Sustainable Food News < Prev   Next >