"Healthy Communities" Program to Strengthen Cocoa Farmers and their Communities

05/10/06 Bill Guyton, President, World Cocoa Foundation, today announced a significant expansion of efforts to strengthen cocoa farmers and their communities in West Africa. The "Healthy Communities" program will benefit up to 150,000 farm families over the next five years by supporting economic, social and environmentally sustainable development at the farm level. "Healthy Communities" will be one of the largest public-private partnerships focused on sustainability in West Africa and is funded by chocolate and cocoa industry members and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

"We know that profitable crops can create healthy rural communities in developing regions of the world," said Guyton. "Industry-supported programs providing education, information and support for sustainable agriculture already are forming the foundation for stronger, more prosperous cocoa farm families and communities in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Today, we're taking a significant step to expand this work through the launch of the 'Healthy Communities' program."

"Healthy Communities" builds on progress achieved by the Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP), launched in 2002 as a pilot effort to determine how best to help cocoa farm families in West Africa, where 70 percent of the world's cocoa is grown. STCP pilot projects were undertaken in the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria. Program partners included USAID, WCF, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), SOCODEVI, CABI Bioscience, host country farmer cooperatives, and local and national governments and organizations.

"We have seen the positive impact strong public-private partnerships can have in building agricultural sustainability and improving lives in the developing world," said Jeff Hill, Senior Agriculture Advisor, Africa Bureau, USAID. "'Healthy Communities' capitalizes on the strong partnerships already in place and uses such innovative approaches as Farmer Field Schools and development of business-oriented organizations to make measurable and sustainable differences in the lives of cocoa farmers and their families."

A central element of "Healthy Communities" is the significant expansion of Farmer Field Schools. Designed to teach farmers about disease and pest control, crop management and improved farming techniques, Farmer Fields Schools have proven highly effective in driving change in cocoa communities. Over the past four years, approximately 200,000 cocoa farmers around the world have benefited from Farmer Field Schools, principally in Southeast Asia. Participating West African farmers, who also have marketed their crops collectively, have seen their incomes increase by 20 to 55 percent. Farmer Field Schools also are helping ensure that cocoa is grown responsibly and that children are not exposed to unsafe working conditions on family farms. Through the "Healthy Communities" initiative, 150,000 additional West African farmers are expected to benefit from Farmer Field Schools between 2007 and 2011.

"We know from experience the difference programs like this can make for a farm family," said Stephan Weise, of the IITA and STCP. "The skills farmers acquire through Farmer Field Schools and related learning approaches can result in a significant increase in family incomes, improving the standard of living and providing opportunities for young people to continue their education. Increasing and diversifying farmer incomes through greater production and marketing efficiency are the key to driving long-term change in West Africa."

"Healthy Communities" also will provide farmers with business advice to help them sell their cocoa crop more effectively. A partnership with Canadian development organization SOCODEVI will organize cocoa farmers into selling groups through farmers' organizations, increasing their ability to capture a better price for their crop.

"We want to provide farmers with the knowledge they need to be more effective not just at farming, but at the business of farming," said Mario Boivin of SOCODEVI. "By enhancing the individual cocoa farmer's skills and by building the capacities of the farmers' organizations, we can bring about real, sustainable change."

"Healthy Communities" is sponsored by the World Cocoa Foundation as well as through additional grants from ADM Cocoa, Blommer Chocolate Company, Cadbury, The Hershey Company, Ferrero, Kraft, Mars, Inc., and Nestle.

"Healthy Communities" is the latest in the cocoa industry's broad approach to driving economic, social and environmentally sustainable development in the world's cocoa-growing regions. The industry and its partners also are working to improve rural access to education through teacher training and vocational education programs that are benefiting thousands of young people in West Africa. The industry also is a leader in efforts to ensure that cocoa is grown responsibly and in ways that support a healthy tropical ecosystem.

"The well-being of cocoa farmers and their families is of utmost importance to Cote d'Ivoire," said Ambassador Daouda Diabate, Cote d'Ivoire's ambassador to the United States. "We are pleased to strongly support the 'Healthy Communities' program along with USAID and the World Cocoa Foundation. Partnerships like this can make a difference for millions of people in Cote d'Ivoire who depend on cocoa for their livelihood."

"We are seeing progress in many of the cocoa-growing communities in West Africa," added Bernadette Paolo, President and CEO of the Africa Society. "I want to thank the World Cocoa Foundation for its commitment and its leadership in developing the partnerships and programs that are creating change and improving the quality of life for farm families around the world."