Description

In the desire of the authorities of the coffee-cocoa sector to promote a smart cocoa crop, respectful of the forest and which meets the needs of producers, the concept "Cocoa Friend of the Forest" was adopted. This concept, approved by some partners such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the French Development Agency and the HDI, reconciles the cocoa tree with the forest and has the vision of "Promoting sustainable cocoa farming systems compatible with the requirements of environmental protection, biodiversity conservation and economic and social development of the actors in the value chain".

The pilot project "Cocoa friendly to forests" aims to develop a "research-action" approach, supported by the sector, to meet the challenges of the Ivorian cocoa sector: aging of orchards, preservation of forests, sustainable improvement of yields, traceability of cocoa beans. It is proposed to test in a production basin near Bianouan new technical routes in terms of intensification to ensure at least 1000 kg/ha at the end of the project (against 350 kg/ha in 2015), agroforestry approaches to preserve the environment, cocoa traceability methods (on about 7000 ha for 2000 producers).

In the execution of this project ICRAF collaborates with ECOTIERRA, ANADER, PROGRESO, ICRAF, TECHNOSERVE, RABOBANK and HRNS.