May 2013 C&CI • ICCO Report • 47
early detection of pests and diseases, and thereby enable action to be taken quickly to eradicate them and to prevent their spread. The ‘Integrated Management of Cocoa Pests and Pathogens in Africa’ project is costed at US$3.2 million and will run in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo, which together supply about 70 per cent of the world’s cocoa. The Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) is coordinating activities on the ground.
The three main importers – the EU, the US and Japan – all have different regulations, which does not make producers’ lives any easier. Ideally the ICCO – which has set up a working group to monitor legislation on food safety generally – would like to see one common standard
Among the major indigenous cocoa pests and diseases to be targeted by the project are those that cause significant crop losses in Africa, such as mirids, sting bugs, stem borers, black pod and cocoa swollen shoot virus (CSSV). Parasitic plants, such as mistletoes and epiphytes, which are also a threat to West African cocoa production, will be in the project’s sights, too. Particular attention will be given to
CSSV, as new outbreaks in Côte d’Ivoire are casting doubt over the future of production in a country that supplies almost 40 per cent of the world’s cocoa. The viral disease is one of the most intractable and destructive to strike the cocoa industry in West Africa, and it has similar effects to witches’ broom disease, which cut cocoa production in Brazil by over 50 per cent in the 1990s. While the current pesticides project, the estimated total cost of which is US$6.3
Main cocoa diseases and
pests* • Witches’ Broom: a fungus found throughout Latin America that seriously damages the ability of cocoa trees to produce fruit. • Frosty Pod rot: a fungus found in all north-western countries in South America. • Phytophthora pod rot: also known as black pod - is caused by several fungal species and is a particular problem in West Africa.
• Vascular streak dieback (VSD): a fungal disease first identified in the 1960s in Papua New Guinea.
• Cocoa swollen shoot virus (CSSV): the only virus seriously threatening cocoa trees and a problem in West Africa. • Mirids: insects that affect cocoa worldwide and if not dealt with can, within three years, reduce yields by as much as 75 per cent. • Cocoa pod borer (CPB): also known as cocoa moth, first noted in 1841 and now affects almost all cocoa producing provinces in Indonesia.
• Mealy bugs: cause a problem by transmitting CSSV.
• Cocoa stem borers: the larvae of moths that bore into trunks.
* Includes information from The International Cocoa Trade by Robin Dand and the ICCO website
million, received no help from the CFC, the new scheme on pests and diseases will – although the total amount has yet to be settled. This Amsterdam-based body has been a major financial contributor to most of the 18 development projects sponsored by the ICCO, starting with the first in 1989 – a study into how to promote chocolate consumption in Japan by overcoming cocoa’s somewhat negative image there. Most of the subsequent schemes, however,
have been more directly concerned with helping producing countries, including the two most costly. The first, with a price tag of US$9.99 million, had the objective of developing cocoa plants resistant to pests and disease and the other, at a cost of US$10.50 million, sought to improve the welfare of smallholders around the world by enabling them to achieve higher and more sustainable productivity levels. All in all, the total value of the ICCO’s cocoa development projects to date is estimated at US$46.6 million, of which the CFC has provided US$15.5 million, mostly in grants. However, the CFC – which is has to tighten its belt – has told the ICCO and other commodity bodies eligible to receive its finance help that available funds in the future will be tighter than in the past and that they should actively look for alternatives sources of cash. Just US$53.5 million is expected to be available from the CFC for projects in all commodities in the period 2013-2017 and competition for a share of this pot is expected to be fierce.
Increased competition for CFC funds
The CFC – which to date has co-financed some 348 commodity projects, providing roughly half their total cost of US$603 million – is in transition, as its long-term role is reviewed, but it will continue to co- finance development projects submitted by agencies though grants, although loans will play a bigger part, as will more novel forms of assistance, such as lines of credit. The new vision of the CFC – approved by member states at the end of 2013 – will see it favouring projects that encourage sustainable development, both socially and economically, and schemes that will give developing countries greater access to food and to international and regional markets. The agency will also be more involved in project design. n C&CI
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