Partnerships in Côte d’Ivoire: ANADER, Le Conseil du Café Cacao, SODEFOR, and more

Cocoa pods or cabosse in French. Photo ICRAF/ G Koffi

Any organization concerned with the rural domain in Côte d’Ivoire quickly teams up with the Agence Nationale d’​Appui au Développement Rural. ANADER is the West African state’s extension service.

It rapidly perceives the role of the Conseil du Café Cacao or CCC too. Côte d’Ivoire is the world’s biggest exporter of cocoa beans, paste and shells and also exports coffee.

ANADER’s Mathieu Sedoue (left) with the ICRAF team in Divo in February 2021. Photo ICRAF /CWatson

ICRAF has collaborated with both since it opened its Abidjan office in 2010. ANADER is omnipresent on the ground and critical for passing the word about ecologically sound agriculture to farmers.

Welcoming ICRAF to his office, Matthieu Sedoue, the head of ANADER in the department of Divo, said, “ANADER is a collaborator of ICRAF. Together we trained nursery operators. Now farmers can take the seedlings and plant them in their cocoa orchards.”

CCC regulates, stabilizes, and oversees the cocoa sector. In 2019 the CCC declared that cocoa agroforestry “could without doubt address the problems of climate change caused in part by the reduction of forest cover”.

A SODEFOR signpost advises no cutting, hunting or burning in a classified forest.

This statement laid the way for the restoration of degraded cocoa-growing areas that had been heavily deforested.

CIFOR-ICRAF places high value on partnerships with such key governmental bodies.

SODEFOR under The Ministry of Water and Forests is another such a partner. The Société de développement des forêts is responsible for managing the country’s forest estate, particularly the classified forests or forêts classées.

CIFOR-ICRAF is also has a partnership with the Conseil du Coton et Anacarde. It plays a similar role to the CCC but forcotton and cashew.Côte d’Ivoire is now the world’s biggest producer of the nuts.