US, WCF launch $12m initiative for cocoa production in four countries including Ghana

Cocoa is a major contributor to the economies of some African countries, especially Ivory Coast and Ghana. The two countries together are the world’s largest producers of cocoa.

Ivory Coast produced some 1.4 million tonnes and Ghana produced some 835,000 tonnes in 2015.

Cocoa is primarily used to produce chocolate; an industry valued around $100 billion.

At the recently held Partnership Meeting & Cocoa Sustainability Trade Fair in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) and the US government’s Feed the Future launched a $12 million African Cocoa Initiative II to facilitate increase in production of quality cocoa planting materials and provide financial services to cocoa farmers in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria.

According to the WCF, the initiative is a joint effort to support the implementation of the WCF’s CocoaAction strategy for cocoa sustainability and brings together the public and private sector.

The WCF is an international membership organization that promotes sustainability in the cocoa sector.

The meeting was attended by about 500 representatives of the global chocolate and cocoa sector, including farmers.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi
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