May 2013 C&CI • Cocoa World • 17


Jamaican cocoa farmers complete


training programme In January 2013, 65 cocoa farmers from the parishes of Clarendon and St Mary in Jamaica were presented with certificates following their completion of the Jamaica Rural Economy and Ecosystems Adapting to Climate Change (REEACH) farmer field school.


The farmers, 16 from Bellefield in St Mary and 49 from Brandon Hill, Wood Hall, and Park Hall in Clarendon, join 500 farmers from across the island who have taken the intensive six-month course. Participants are trained in crop husbandry, propagation,


post-harvest handling and business management, skills that equip them to improve their crop and take advantage of the resurgent market for Jamaica’s fine-flavour cocoa. The programme was jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). ACDI/VOCA organised it through its USAID-funded REEACH project. Speaking at the ceremony, Jamaica’s Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Roger Clarke, congratulated the farmers on their achievement. He said this was the fourth farmer field school graduation he had attended. “What are you about?” he asked rhetorically, and answered: “Saving the cocoa industry.”


Mr Clarke said Jamaica is one of only a few sources of fine flavour cocoa, and yet he had seen some farmers cut down their trees because of an inability to seize the potential of the marketplace.


“I want to congratulate all of you who have stayed the course, because you are about lifting production and productivity in the cocoa industry,” he said. The minister asked the graduates to share their expertise to help ensure sustainability of the effort. He told them that they are “new extension officers,” and that when they see fellow farmers who have not adopted best practices, they must say: “That is not how it is supposed to be done. When USAID is not around anymore, I want to see our cocoa production keep moving up,” he said. USAID Mission Director Denise Herbol called the Jamaican REEACH project a “great success.” She said the project pioneered the expanded use of the farmer field school methodology to enhance farmer knowledge and best-practice adoption, with emphasis on hands-on learning to solve problems and master techniques. She noted that since 2010, the Jamaica REEACH project and its predecessor, the ‘MAJIC’ project have been instrumental in facilitating production, productivity and quality improvements in a variety of crops grown on the island. More than 500 cocoa farmers and post-harvest operators have been trained in the major cocoa-growing areas of Jamaica, and 400 acres of cocoa have been rehabilitated, with neglected orchards pruned and field density corrected. In addition organic interventions have been implemented to control pests and disease, and climate change adaptation measures have been deployed. “Even more importantly, the cocoa farmer field schools have re-energized several communities and sparked interest in the cocoa industry,” Ms Herbol said.


Agriterra expands cocoa operation


Agriterra Ltd, the AIM-listed pan-African agricultural company, has expanded its cocoa farming operations in Sierra Leone, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Tropical Farms Ltd (TFL). In line with increasing the group’s production base and to complement in particular its growing cocoa trading operations, TFL has completed the acquisition of a 50-year lease, with a 21-year extension option, over a cocoa and coffee plantation covering 1,208 hectares, located 40km from Kenema in southeast Sierra Leone.


The plantation, which was previously run by Beresfords, the international plantation group, prior to the civil war, will be rehabilitated and redeveloped in order to recommence the production of cocoa, coffee and additional cash crops. A further 546 hectares, located contiguously to the north of the plantation has also been signed on the same terms.


The group has already invested significantly in the rehabilitation and development of the plantation. A modern nursery is being installed, which will be the largest and most technically advanced current cocoa production facility in Sierra Leone.


In line with the company’s desire to rapidly expand its cocoa plantation business, TFL is actively negotiating to secure a further 1,200 hectares, contiguous to the north of the existing plantation and a further 800 hectares to the south. The group hopes to announce the completion of these negotiations in the near term.


Agriterra already farms cocoa on a number of plantations in Sierra Leone


WCF grant will help further the cause of


biodiversity The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) has been awarded a grant that could eventually help the entire cocoa industry make cocoa production more environmentally friendly. The money, from the Biodiversity and Agricultural Commodities Programme (BACP) of the International Finance Corporation, will help the foundation collect more data, which will then lead to developing better cocoa biodiversity indicators. All of the data will be shared publicly, which will help keep decision makers informed as they create future programmes and policies in cocoa production.


“Supporting biodiversity in cocoa production has long been a core value of WCF,” said Bill Guyton, WCF President. “With a commonly agreed upon set of biodiversity indicators, we will be able to meaningfully measure environmental benefits across the sector.” The money will fund surveying the number of native tree species under shade canopy, the number of hectares of native vegetation on cocoa farms, and the average shade canopy density in cocoa fields. The grant will continue to support the collection of cocoa biodiversity indicators in the cocoa sector through WCF’s CocoaMAP, a subscription-based website that compiles data to track global cocoa sustainability efforts.


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