Cargill to train 15,000 cocoa farmers in Ghana

Cargill’s cocoa and chocolate business – in close cooperation with the Ghana Cocoa Board – is expanding its Cargill Sustainable Cocoa Program with the launch of an extensive four year commitment to farmer training in Ghana.

The training will be delivered in partnership with Ghanaian licensed cocoa buying company Akuafo Adamfo and the non-governmental organisation Solidaridad West Africa.

The program aims to train 15,000 farmers and support cocoa farming communities over the next four years in the Ashanti and Western regions of Ghana.

In Farmer Field Schools, Cargill said that farmers will receive extensive training to help them rejuvenate cocoa farms and apply best agricultural practices related to pest control, harvest and post-harvest practices.

The initiative will also cover social issues like raising awareness of HIV and the importance of schooling for children. Crucially, said the company, the program will help strengthen farmer organisations and encourage knowledge sharing amongst cocoa growers. All training will be in accordance with the UTZ Certified Code of Conduct.

The target for the first year is to train 5,000 farmers to become independently certified. By 2016 the program aims to have significantly improved agricultural practices adopted by farmers and farmer organizations. Throughout the program, agricultural extension officers from the Ghana Cocoa Board will receive coaching to act as facilitators in order to provide farmers with guidance and best practice examples.

The certified cocoa beans will be processed at Cargill’s cocoa processing plant in Tema and can be traced throughout the supply chain.

The launch of farmer training in Ghana complements Cargill’s farmer training activities in Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Vietnam and, said Cargill, underlines its belief that training farmers successfully is key to building a sustainable supply chain as well as helping increase farmers’ incomes and supporting the future growth of cocoa farming.