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');document.write('Farmer Organizations in Côte d?Ivoire to Participate in Cocoa Livelihoods Program
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Entry by: Catherine Alston, World Cocoa FoundationWhile in Côte d?Ivoire for the Cocoa Livelihoods Program (CLP) program launch, I wanted to get out to the cocoa farms and visit with the CLP beneficiaries. In Côte d?Ivoire, CLP will reach 75,000 cocoa-farming households and seek to improve their incomes and livelihoods. Mbalo Ndiaye (CLP Program Director) and I met with some of those farmers while visiting two farmer organizations (FO) in San Pedro. While there, Mbalo and I talked to the farmers about the role of the FO and the services it can provide. We learned that the FO can help link the farmers to supplies such as fertilizer and provide access to the market. The farmers also brought up some concerns on the organizational capacity of the FO and the farmers? ability to produce higher valued cocoa to the organization.Through the Cocoa Livelihoods Program, these farmer groups will become more efficient, the board will be trained on book keeping and record taking, and they will be a link for the farmers to credit for input supplies. Also, the members will participate in Farmer Field Schools to learn better farming techniques to improve the production and quality of cocoa. It was a pleasure to be able to meet with these farmers and tell them that they will participate in the Cocoa Livelihoods Program.On the same field visit, Mbalo and I traveled the road from the villages where the FOs are located down to a cleaning plant on the coast. Once the farmers? cocoa is ready and the FO has weighed and tested the quality, the bags of beans are loaded onto a truck and sent on to a cleaning plant like the one we saw. There the beans are tested again and prepared for shipment to Europe, the Americas and Asia where it will be processed into your favorite chocolate product.\"01%202010%20San%20Pedro%20Program%20Launch.jpg\"
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');document.write('Ivorian Minister of Agriculture Officially Launched the Cocoa Livelihoods Program
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Entry by: Catherine Alston, World Cocoa FoundationOn Wednesday, February 3 I had the honor and pleasure of accompanying many distinguished guests in Abidjan at a program launch ceremony for the Cocoa Livelihoods Program (CLP). First announced last year, the CLP is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 14 chocolate industry companies. Mbalo Ndiaye, our Program Director, gave an overview of the program and specific activities for Côte d?Ivoire to the some 100 attendees at the program launch. He identified that this program is focused on building the income of cocoa-farming households and seeks to ensure that farmers utilize sustainable cocoa-growing practices. A total of 75,000 cocoa farmers and 24 Farmer Organizations in Côte d?Ivoire will benefit from this program. In the course of its implementation, CLP will build local service capacity.Mbalo also announced that the CNRA, the national research institution, has been awarded a grant through the CLP to pilot a new innovative technology that will improve the production of cocoa farms.The President of the Coffee-Cocoa Sector Management Committee (CGFCC) commended the World Cocoa Foundation for its many years of committed service to improve the conditions and the lives of cocoa farmers and their communities and thanked the leadership for bringing this collaborative program to his country. In his closing remarks he announced that the Committee will be in full support of the program and will continue to work with the World Cocoa Foundation to ensure its success. The Minister of Agriculture also attended the ceremony and presented his encouragement for the program and invited the CLP to create a synergy with the government?s 2QC program to improve production and quality of cocoa. In his closing statements, the Minister officially launched the program. \"01%202010%20CI%20Program%20Launch.jpg\"
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');document.write('Education for All and the ECHOES Program
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Entry: David Noyes, World Cocoa FoundationLast week while at the Brookings Institution, I had the opportunity to listen to Kevin Watkins present the release of UNESCO?s Education for All Global Monitoring Report on Reaching the Marginalized. This report presented a grim update on the progress towards the Education for All (EFA) goals set in 2000 at the World Education Forum in Dakar. These goals set specific targets to be reached by 2015 in the areas of:? Improved early childhood care and education? Universal Primary Education? Adult skills and learning? Adult literacy? Elimination of gender disparities? Improving the quality of educationWhile significant progress has been made since 2000, as a whole, the world is not on track to reach the EFA targets by 2015. I noted that the situation is particularly severe in Sub-Saharan Africa, where our ECHOES programs are is located:? Of the 72 million children out of school in 2007, 32 million were in Sub-Saharan Africa (compared to 45 million in 1999), and if current trends hold, by 2015 the region will have 23 million children out of school.? An estimated 1.2 million teachers and $11 billion per year in additional financing are needed to meet EFA goals in the region.? Despite these needs, the impact of the financial crisis could result in a reduction of resources for education by $4.6 billion. This is a decrease of more than twice the current amount of aid for basic education in the region.As schools provide one of the best defenses attendance serves as a preventative measure against child labor, a concern implied in the report is that poor households may respond to recent economic shocks by withdrawing their children from school and thereby putting them at risk of engaging in these sorts of activities. It is clear from the report that if the EFA targets are to be achieved, a new approach is needed. While World Cocoa Foundation?s ECHOES Program currently operates on a relatively small scale, we are creating a model of relevant rural education that is capable of being scaled up, which will translate into a valuable contribution to the EFA mission at a time when it is most needed.The ECHOES program has been operating in Ghana and Côte d?Ivoire since 2007. The program takes a holistic, innovative approach that involves the entire community in the education process. This is done in a way that addresses a number of the EFA goals. ECHOES beneficiaries include:? Out-of-school youth? In-school children? Teachers & school administrators? Adults ? both farmers and mothers with small businesses in the communitiesAdults receive functional literacy training that not only equips them with such skills as being able to read the scale that their cocoa is weighed on and then calculate how much they should receive, but also allows them to see the value of education. This has led to examples of increased interest in education, like the one noted in a prior blog post (link: http://blog.worldcocoafoundation.org/2010/01/women_learn_the_value_of_educa_1.php) in which a local primary school?s enrollment dramatically increased after literacy training was introduced into the community. Teachers and school administrators receive training that improves teacher methodologies and school management, thereby helping to improve the overall quality of education in the schools. Additionally teachers assist field staff in holding special classes in agriculture and life skills for in-school children. Shadow teachers are paired with field staff during their first year of agricultural trainings, after which they are capable of leading classes independently in the years to come. The relevant knowledge gained in these classes motivates children to stay in school and succeed. A more intensive version of this training is done with out-of-school youth, equipping them with the knowledge that will help them earn a sustainable livelihood through cocoa farming and other activities. School agriculture clubs develop a school cocoa plot and vegetable garden to accompany the in-school training, with the help of out-of-school youth. Once the cocoa trees begin to yield fruit, the plot turns into an additional source of income for the community to apply towards improving the quality of their education. At the same time, the community gains a greater role in the process of education facilitating a bottom-up approach to education that has great potential for long-term change. The ECHOES Family Support Scholarships component is another innovative way that education is being strengthened in cocoa-growing communities. This scholarship takes the form of a ?loan? granted to a mother who has an entrepreneurial activity that she is currently pursuing and would like to improve. One third of the loan goes toward paying a year of school-related expenses for her child and the rest goes toward enhancing the mother?s business and entrepreneurship training. The loan is repaid through an agreement between the mother and the school that she will continue to pay two additional years of schooling for her child. Tying all these elements together, we are establishing technology-enabled community resources in many ECHOES communities. The centers are based at rural schools, but are community resource centers. Depending on how the community establishes their management plan, the centers may be used during the day by teachers and students, and then in the evenings opened up to community members, making the school a center for learning and development for the whole community. Taken in sum, these approaches offer an alternative way to achieving the EFA goals by enabling communities to have a greater voice in the direction and content of education. When individuals in the communities are more engaged in the education process, substantial, long-term change is possible.
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');document.write('The Cake Bar supports World Cocoa Foundation?s ECHOES program with a fundraiser
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Entry by: Charlie Feezel and Bill Guyton, World Cocoa FoundationFor those of you in the Washington, DC area, we hope you can join participate in the 3rd annual You Are Loved event held by The Cake Bar on February 13 to celebrate Valentine?s Day. The event will feature some of The Cake Bar?s chocolate cakes and liquor flavored fudges. Artisanal cheeses, fruit, dessert wines, and coffee will also be served. Entrance fee is $20. The proceeds from the silent auction and $5 of the entrance fee will benefit the World Cocoa Foundation?s Empowering Cocoa Households with Opportunities and Education Solutions (ECHOES) Program. Read more about the ECHOES program in Ghana and Cote d?Ivoire which provides improved teacher training, resource centers, functional literacy training, students receiving in-school vocational agricultural training, out-of-school youth and parents receiving business development training and family scholarships. You Are Loved 2010 will focus on raising money to provide out-of-school youth with the start-up kits, containing tools and materials, they receive at the end of their training to start their businesses.The event will take place at Studio Gallery, 2108 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 on the bottom floor. The gallery is located in a townhouse one block from Connecticut Avenue near the Dupont Circle Metro. The current exhibition will stay in place. We at World Cocoa Foundation would like to thank Carla and the event organizers for including us in this event.
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');document.write('Cocoa Password: Fermentation, Drying & Sorting in Liberia
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Entry by: Tracey Duffey, World Cocoa FoundationAs I round out my last two days in the field visiting cocoa farmer associations, Musu and I met with four farmer associations and two cooperatives in Nimba County.During the discussions we had with Zoekwadoe Cocoa Farmers Association, Buu-Yao Cocoa Farmers Association and Zokarkiah Cooperative, members shared their experiences and recommendations for additional training to focus on quality, pre-financing, solar drying, and over-aged trees. Mr. George Lakpor from the Zokarkiah Cooperative stated, ?We love your concern for our community and our farmer association, and we promise that whatever training we are provided, that we will ensure that all of our members receive this training.?In Saclepea-Mah District, we held our last meeting with Kwakerseh Cocoa Farmers Association and Kwalokwakiah Cocoa Farmers Association. As Musu began to explain her cocoa quality training activities, Mr. Zarwolo Konah from Kwakerseh Cocoa Farmers Association immediately interrupted her and called out the ?Cocoa Password? - Fermentation, Drying and Sorting. This was the training jointly organized by ACDI/VOCA LIFE and IITA/STCP on cocoa quality control and grading that he received in September 2009. He was so inspired by the training that he has been sharing the knowledge with all of the farmers in his community and within the farmer association. Here is Zarwolo with a sample of his top grade cocoa that he brought from the association?s warehouse:\"Liberia1302.JPG\"As I wrap up my visit to Liberia on Monday, I want to thank the cocoa farmer associations, our fellow Musu Flomo and our partners at ACDI/VOCA LIFE and IITA/STCP for making my visit so informative and successful. Meeting with the Liberian cocoa farmers has been a true honor. The farmers are articulate, willing to share experiences and interested to learn more about cocoa and receive additional training. I have learned a great deal from our meetings and discussions and look forward to working through the World Cocoa Foundation to help strengthen the programs that WCF currently sponsors. With all of our in-country partners and the farmer associations, we will work closely with Musu and help her to share the cocoa quality and market training that she has received from the U.S. I look forward to my next visit and meeting with the farmers to see their improvement in cocoa quality. Their goal is to meet the top grade of international standards which I am certain that they will meet.
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');document.write('98% of Our Community is Cocoa - Message from Liberia
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Entry by: Tracey Duffey, World Cocoa FoundationDuring my fourth day of travel, Musu and I, along with ACDI/VOCA LIFE field coordinator for Farming as a Business, Mr. Lablah Tabolo; and IITA/STCP FFS Supervisor for Foya District, Andrew Fuah and IITA/STCP FFS Master Trainer, John Ziama traveled to Massabolahum, a cocoa-farming community in the Foya District of Lofa County. It is a day-long journey to travel from Gbargna to Foya ? over 270 kms of unpaved road with the last 66 kms being some of the worst roadway that I have ever experienced throughout my 17 years working on the African continent.The long and difficult journey was worth it, as we were warmly welcomed by over 60 of the members of the Selbelhill Cocoa Farmers Association. The meeting was opened by the Chairlady of the Board of Directors, Madame Tetejay Sesay who is pictured here:\"Liberia1231.JPG\"After formal introductions, our visiting delegation was introduced and I was invited to present the World Cocoa Foundation and to explain the purpose of my visit to introduce Musu and her training activity. The following hour of the meeting opened discussion with the farmers who had many pertinent points to raise.?98% of our community is cocoa? said the first farmer who spoke; therefore they were very encouraged by our visit and to know that the international community is interested in their cocoa farming and farmer association. We had a lively discussion on farmer training, black pod disease, solar drying, storage, warehousing, transportation, pre-financing, and crop diversification ? all raised by the farmer association members.When the meeting was adjourned, we visited the farmer association warehouse and one member?s cocoa farm. The farmers were proud to show me their collection of cocoa from the members and how they are now using the materials provided to them through the ACDI/VOCA LIFE program, including a moisture meter, digital scale, platform scale, and probe.\"Liberia1197.JPG\"
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');document.write('Good quality cocoa in Bong County, Liberia
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Entry by: Tracey Duffey, World Cocoa FoundationThe first part of my trip with Musu outside of Monrovia took us to Bong County (188 kms away) where we met up with ACDI/VOCA LIFE Farmer/Business Organization Coordinator for Bong and Nimba counties, Mr. George King. George took us to Sanoyea Town and introduced us to two farmer associations: Tuenkpah Cocoa Farmers Association and Kwapaigeh Cocoa Farmers Association.We held a meeting to introduce Musu and the cocoa quality training that she will be developing with the farmers? associations. The farmers discussed with us in detail their interest in receiving additional training for warehousing, solar drying and quality. They are eager to work with Musu during her next visit with them in February, where she will spend more time to discuss their training needs and complete a questionnaire with them. This questionnaire will help her to develop and finalize cocoa quality training materials; thereafter returning to provide the farmer associations the training.After our meeting, we visited the warehouse where we tasted several cocoa beans from bags that were brought in from different farmers. Though some of the beans were not well dried, other beans were of the best quality ? having a nice cocoa flavor which is an example to other farmers, not only in Bong County, but throughout the country. During follow-up visits, Musu will work with the farmers who are producing good quality beans so that these farmers can share their fermentation and drying techniques with other farmers.Mr. Luciny Fofanah is the Warehouse Supervisor for the Tuenkpah Cocoa Farmers Association (pictured below):\"Liberia%202010%201.jpg\"Not only is Luciny a cocoa farmer, he is a 2008 FFS Graduate from IITA/STCP and is now an FFS Facilitator training farmers throughout his county. He is actively involved in the farmer association and enjoys his new role with the association as the warehouse supervisor.Musu will be working closely with Luciny to provide him additional training in cocoa quality so that Luciny can advise farmers who bring in their beans to the warehouse, if there is a quality problem; what the farmers can do to improve their quality.
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');document.write('Visiting Cocoa Farmer Associations in Liberia
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Entry by: Tracey Duffey, World Cocoa FoundationGreetings from Liberia where I have been for the last week visiting cocoa farmer associations and cooperatives throughout three major cocoa-growing counties in Liberia: Bong, Lofa and Nimba.\"Selbelhill%20Farmers%20Association%20Liberia.jpg\"Meeting with Selbelhill Farmers Association in Lofa County.The focus of my 9-day visit is to work with our partners that the World Cocoa Foundation supports and particularly to assist Ms. Musu Flomo, our first USDA/WCF Norman E. Borlaug Cocoa Fellow from Liberia start her follow-on activities. Musu?s training under her 10-week fellowship in the U.S. (from October to November 2009) was on market information systems and cocoa quality with the University of Tennessee. Upon Musu?s return to Liberia, and starting this month, Musu will begin to implement a 6-month follow-on activity through funding from the ACDI/VOCA LIFE program that will be managed by the World Cocoa Foundation. Musu will be working with two major cocoa programs: the IITA/STCP-Liberia program that is funded by USAID and the World Cocoa Foundation, and the ACDI/VOCA LIFE program funded by USDA.STCP-Liberia has been working with cocoa farmers in Liberia since 2006 to provide training to cocoa farmers through Farmer Field Schools (FFS). Approximately 7,000 farmers have been trained to-date. In 2008, ACDI/VOCA LIFE was established and coordinated with STCP and FFS participants and FFS graduates to assist farmers to develop farmer associations so that they can bulk their cocoa together and sell directly to exporters at higher prices. To date, LIFE is working with 10 farmers? associations, five cooperatives, and helping to establish an additional 7 new associations.The training that Musu has received in the U.S. will allow her to work with ACDI/VOCA LIFE and IITA/STCP, with a main focus to develop training materials for farmers that will cover marketing and cocoa quality. The training will answer such questions as: how cocoa prices are determined and how cocoa beans are graded. By imparting this knowledge to the farmers, the farmers themselves will be able to assess their cocoa beans and know the actual price that they can obtain from buyers, as well as to understand the level of quality that is required to meet international standards.As I spend each day this week traveling around these counties in Liberia, I am energized by the enthusiasm and openness of the members of the cocoa farmer associations. Musu and I have met two to five associations/cooperatives in each of the three counties over the course of our 6-day journey. At each meeting, we discuss for hours the improvements that farmers are experiencing through the training that they have received from both IITA/STCP and ACDI/VOCA LIFE, along with their recommendations of additional training needs and how the World Cocoa Foundation can assist further.Please visit my next blog entries to meet some of the members and learn more about their experiences.
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');document.write('WCF Supports the Red Cross for Haiti Relief Efforts
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Entry: Holly Houston, World Cocoa FoundationLike all of you, the staff of the World Cocoa Foundation has been following the tragic events in Haiti over the past week. As a part of the international development community, we have heard various stories from our partners and friends who have worked to locate their on-the-ground staff and have pulled together resources and teams to travel to Haiti after the earthquake. To witness the challenges facing the people of Haiti is to be mindful of the urgent need for rapid, effective coordination and implementation of assistance. We are greatly encouraged by the wide-reaching global response of governments, organizations, and individuals. The World Cocoa Foundation has donated to the Red Cross to contribute to these needed efforts. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti and all those involved in relief efforts.
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');document.write('WCF ECHOES Team at The Embassy of Ghana
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Entry: Charlie Feezel, World Cocoa FoundationYesterday, the World Cocoa Foundation ECHOES team (Meg Young, David Noyes and I) had the pleasure of being part of the 3rd Annual Educational Conference on the Sustainability of African Resources and Water Problems in Africa. The event was sponsored by the Let?s Go Africa Foundation and hosted by the Embassy of The Republic of Ghana. The five-hour event delivered vital information about sustainable water systems and needs to an audience of about 200 students and teachers from the Washington, D.C. area. I was lucky enough to be on the panel to discuss WCF programs that contribute to the overall sustainability of rural African communities and, of course, talk a little about how cocoa is grown, made, and especially, how chocolate is tasted. We gave teachers a CD filled with ECHOES resources that use cocoa and chocolate as content for lessons in Math, Business, Science and Social Studies courses. We also made plans for some of the students and teachers to get involved in ECHOES school-to-school exchanges and pen pals programs.\"1.20.10%20charlie%20speaking%20embassy%20of%20ghana.jpg\"
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');document.write('Recognizing the Contributions of USDA and Mars Cocoa Scientists in Florida
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Entry: Bill Guyton, World Cocoa FoundationWe were pleased to read today in the Miami Herald an article highlighting the important work underway at the USDA cocoa research facility in Southern Florida. This effort is being jointly supported by USDA and one of the World Cocoa Foundation\'s founding members, Mars, Incorporated. USDA scientists Dr. Ray Schnell has been involved in cocoa research for several years, helping to improve the productivity of cocoa trees, which will ultimately help cocoa farmers in West Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Dr. Juan Carlos Motamayor is a geneticist supported through Mars, who is working with the USDA team in Miami. This is a great model of public-private sector collaboration.By MARICEL E. PRESILLAMiamiHeraldNo one who loves chocolate needs to be told that it is experiencing a golden age. The very fact that the names of illustrious cacao types like Venezuelan Porcelana have made their way onto chocolate-bar labels shows a deepening hunger for vivid cacao character and careful artisanship.On the scientific front, biochemists are unraveling chocolate\'s heart-healthfulness and archaeologists are gaining insight into its ancient ritual uses, but plant geneticists are engaged in the most exciting research. Their project to decode the cacao genome holds promise for farmers, manufacturers and chocolate lovers alike.South Florida scientists are playing a vital role, and the geneticist who leads their efforts, Dr. Raymond Schnell, will speak Saturday at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden\'s International Chocolate Festival. At Chapman Field, the Subtropical Horticultural Research Station of the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Schnell coordinates two programs aimed at constructing an overall genetic picture of Theobroma cacao: the International Marker System Selection Program and the Genome Sequencing Program. Funded by Mars, the project also involves scientists at five other sites.South Florida\'s role in chocolate research dates to the 1950s, when the USDA established a quarantine station here to stop the movement of cacao diseases among the Americas, Asia and Africa.After disease decimated the cacao crop in Bahia, Brazil, in 1998, threatening Mars\' supply, the company offered to fund USDA efforts to develop disease-resistant plants to broaden the dangerously narrow genetic foundation of cacao plantations in Africa, the world\'s largest producer.This program gave rise to far-reaching efforts to collect and -- just as crucially -- accurately identify cacao specimens. As Schnell told me when I visited his research station last year, this is no mere academic exercise. DNA testing has revealed that some of the world\'s great germplasm banks are full of mislabeled specimens -- a hindrance to any breeding program meant to exploit a particular cultivar\'s qualities, from subtle flavor nuances to disease or pest resistance. For the past decade, Schnell\'s team has been systematically examining germplasm from many collections, trying to set the record straight.The Coral Gables research station sits on property that once belonged to horticulturalist and tropical plant explorer David Fairchild. Looking at the weathered gray stone walls that enclose the cacao collection, I felt transported to a Maya temple ruin. My tour guide, agricultural research technician Mike Winterstein, told me that had been just what Fairchild wanted. In 1933 he had the garden enlarged as part of a Civilian Conservation Corps project, cannibalizing paving stones from a military airstrip to construct the thick walls. Fairchild knew that unimpeded Gulf Stream breezes made the spot several degrees warmer than surrounding areas. This slight boost plus the absorbed heat the walls radiate back at night raises the temperature in the sheltered garden by 5 to 7 degrees -- enough for cacao and other tender tropical plants to survive this far north.Among the scientists working on the mapping project is Venezuelan-born geneticist Juan Carlos Motamayor, who has shed light on the complexity of genotypes within the species Theobroma cacao. There are 10 known genetic clusters, all native to South America, and the number may grow as Motamayor examine cacao samples gathered in Bolivia and Peru.When the project is complete in two or three years, it will help clarify the genetic origins of cacao and the relationships among its types. It will also allow scientists to select cultivars for farmers that are smaller, faster-growing, easier to prune and more resistant to pests and disease. In the end, more accurate knowledge of genetics will turn cacao into a modern crop. The payoff for chocolate lovers will be a secure source for their favorite food and, perhaps, an even richer flavor palette.Chef and culinary historian Maricel E. Presilla is the author of The New Taste of Chocolate (2009, revised, Ten Speed Press).
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');document.write('Women Learn the Value of Education through Literacy Classes
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Entry: Hannah Darnton, ECHOES International Educators for Africa Volunteer, Côte d?IvoireHannah Darnton is a volunteer with the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help?s International Educators for Africa program which sends volunteer US teachers to Africa to work with local teachers. As part of its involvement in World Cocoa Foundation?s ECHOES Program, IFESH has sent four volunteers to Côte d?Ivoire this year. One of the ECHOES activities that Ms. Darnton is working on is adult literacy training. This is her report from the field.\"Eboissue1.png\"Over the past few months here in Cote d?Ivoire we have been heading in and out of the villages surrounding Abengourou working with our ?centres d?alphabetisation? or literacy centers. Now open for about a year we are starting to see marked progress, not only in the centers themselves, but in the communities where the centers are located. The village of Eboissué has been one of the most rewarding to observe. Their class of approximately 30 students is made mainly of older women who, since the opening of the literacy center in their village, have not only learned to write their names, basic words, and compute basic calculations but also realized the importance of education for their children. This realization has led to a huge spike in enrollment in the local school with nearly double the students in the first year of elementary school as compared to the previous year:Between 2007 and 2008, a total of 32 students enrolled (12 girls and 20 boys) Between 2008 and 2009, a total of 28 students enrolled (15 girls and 13 boys) Between 2009 and 2010, a total of 55students enrolled (26 girls and 29 boys) \"Eboissue2.png\"Above: Students of Eboissué literacy centerAccommodating the additional students has been a challenge for the school. We hope to help Eboissué better accommodate this increase in students in the future and look forward to seeing as much success from our other centers!
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');document.write('Back to Africa: Article by Andy McCormick, The Hershey Company\'s World Cocoa Foundation Board Member
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Entry: Bill GuytonWe wanted to share a recent article written by Andy McCormick, The Hershey Company representative on the World Cocoa Foundation Board. Andy\'s background is very interesting, as he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana several years ago. I hope you enjoy reading the artcile as much as I did.BACK TO AFRICAA Peace Corps reunion Sunday NewsJan 10, 2010 00:08 ESTBy ANDY McCORMICK, Special to the Sunday News Media CenterAdjei\'s farm stood at the end of a red dirt road, framed by mango trees. Beside a small, tin-roofed house, his elderly mother, wife and young daughter pounded cassava and plantain into a peanut-soup stew for dinner.Adjei and I shook hands and greeted one other for the first time in 25 years.\"Akwaba,\" he said, using the Fante word for welcome.It was great to see my friend John Kweku Adjei in such a peaceful setting. Like Ghana, Adjei has faced and overcome many obstacles over the past three decades.I served in Ghana from 1982-84 in the Peace Corps where Adjei was my student at the St. Augustine\'s Secondary School along the Atlantic Coast in West Africa. I taught seventh-grade science, high-school English and coached the basketball team.During my service, I wrote monthly articles for the Sunday News. From fetching water and firewood for daily living to attending funerals for chiefs or drinking palm wine in the forest with hunters, I tried to convey the big differences between life in Lancaster County and West Africa.In the early 1980s, Ghana experienced its equivalent of our Great Depression. My school operated only half the time because of a lack of food. Electricity was irregular, gasoline scarce, medical clinics shuttered and the government threatened by coups. There were hungry children everywhere. Yet the Ghanaians, deeply optimistic and religious, were always gracious and warm, especially to an outsider, even during the worst times.Back then, Adjei was living in a small student room with his brother, Mensah. The boys struggled to balance finding food and completing their studies.When my second year of service ended, I was eager to get home. Beheld from an impoverished city in rural Africa, the United States was truly a blessed land. I knew how lucky I was to leave while Adjei and his family remained, struggling to make ends meet.For the past quarter-century, Adjei and I have maintained a steady correspondence. No Internet here ? simply letters on blue air-mail stationery arriving several times a year with updates about his life in Ghana, the growth of his five children and the family\'s need for shoes, clothes and farm tools.So when a recent business trip for my employer, The Hershey Co., allowed me to visit Ghana again, I made arrangements to see Adjei and his family at the farm, his home for 20 years.When we landed in November, the sweeping changes in Ghana were immediately apparent. The airport was modern and air-conditioned; a new Holiday Inn had just opened across the street.Today, Ghana is on the move. Its economy is diversified and its democracy strengthened and stable. Aggressive vendors race between cars stalled in traffic jams, selling everything from coconut chips to mobile phones. International business investment is growing despite the global recession. Cell towers top the high hills; the Chinese are funding huge highway projects and oil companies have found major fields just off Ghana\'s coast.One night, we ate dinner at a fancy sushi restaurant. It\'s a far cry from the past.Adjei\'s fortunes have also taken a turn for the better.While many educated Ghanaians move from rural areas to seek their fortunes in cities, Adjei wisely chose to become become a skilled rice farmer. He lives hand to mouth, but there is always enough to eat. He employs several hands to help with planting, weeding and harvesting his five acres.Regular breezes and shade cool his land, but Adjei still wakes early to farm before the tropical sun becomes too intense. His hard work has made him healthy, lean and strong. With no car or bicycle, he and the family walk miles each day. He grows most of his food, including the potato-like cassava, plantains, mangoes, pine nuts and, a main cash crop, okra. A big tree produces prized breadfruit, similar to eggplant. From several ponds he raises tilapia (like catfish), a great source of protein.His house is solid, well-screened against mosquitoes and the malaria they can carry. While he has no electricity, his children attend school in the village and enjoy computer games.\"God will provide,\" is a favorite Ghanaian saying.Cocoa beans to chocolate barsGhana\'s cocoa-growing regions lie near Adjei\'s coastal home. The chocolate bars we eat start as \"super-fruit\" harvested from cocoa trees that grow close the equator around the world. Most of the world\'s supply comes from Ghana and other West African nations. Hershey does not own any cocoa farms, but buys from cocoa processing companies.About 3 million small farmers grow cocoa, West Africa\'s major agricultural export and income source for about 20 million people. Unlike coffee beans, mostly grown on large plantations, cocoa is farmed in thousands of rural villages where land is controlled by local chiefs and village elders. Global chocolate consumption grows about 3 percent annually.Because of cocoa\'s importance, the Ghana Cocoa Board, U.S. and European development agencies, and chocolate and processing industries are working together to raise the incomes of cocoa farmers through better planting, pruning and disease-control measures. In some cases, adoption of modern methods has helped farmers increase output 40 percent.Over the past decade, Hershey has helped fund and support the World Cocoa Foundation and the International Cocoa Initiative to establish farmer- and family-support programs in West Africa. We also provide mosquito netting to fight malaria through Family Health International. During my trip, we visited villages, schools and met with government agencies to assess development programs and ways to improve them.At cocoa-farming villages, we greeted chiefs and elders and sought permission to visit their land. As a small gift, we gave them Hershey Golden Almond Bars, a treat because the cocoa farmers rarely see the end-product of their labor. We were given fresh coconut juice to drink.Village leaders told us their main priorities, often building schools nearby so children would not have to walk miles each way in the heat or rain.Our trip leader, Patience Dapaah, made a special point of asking village women to give their views ? typically, they don\'t speak in public. Much of the community work aims at educating children, making farm work safer and providing much-needed health care.Shared, simple farming knowledge can have a real and immediate impact.For example, a certain insect bores into cocoa trees, causing water to leak from the holes. Assuming afflicted trees will die, farmers usually cut them down. However, if the holes are simply patched and sealed, the insect dies and the tree survives. Because new cocoa trees take up to eight years to bear fruit, this solution can preserve not just trees, but a family\'s income.We walked forest paths to cocoa farms where yellow cocoa pods were gathered in great heaps ready to be split open. Beans were pulled from the pulpy fruits and piled onto banana leaves to ferment for several days. They would then be carried to a common drying area and spread in the hot sun, regularly raked and shifted for consistency. At one station, we watched as a small taxi, wobbling under the weight of heavy bean sacks, carried a farmer\'s yearly crop to be weighed for payment. Current world cocoa prices are at historic highs; the farmers are in a good mood.Eventually, beans will fill 125-pound burlap bags stamped \"Ghana Cocoa\" and be hauled by tractor-trailers from the forest to a huge warehouse near the Atlantic port. Bare-backed laborers, sweating in the heat, unload the haul, balancing the bags on their heads.Carefully recording each transaction on paper, quality inspectors slice open sample beans checking for health, color and classifying them by size. Over the last 20 years, Ghana\'s focus on improving the quality and marketing of its cocoa has earned the country\'s product a premium status on the world market.From the ports, beans are processed in nearby factories or shipped to the U.S., Europe or Asia, where they are roasted and made into a wide variety of chocolate products by companies such as Hershey.A connected worldAs Ghana moves forward in cocoa and other sectors, its people stand proud of their progress and the history they have overcome.This was nowhere more evident than the coastal city of Elmina, where, for nearly 400 years, slave traders held West Africans in the equivalent of tropical concentration camps. We saw the dungeons and dank quarters where the slaves were chained for months in sweltering heat. The slave castles of Ghana were the last sight of Africa for millions, soon to be forced onto ships bound for the Americas or Europe. (President Obama, hugely popular in Ghana, visited the slave castle at Cape Coast in July.)Today, the castles are a popular tourist destination and fine hotels and resorts line Ghana\'s coast. While many locals still fish with nets in traditional dug-out canoes, the area around the castles is becoming modern.For Adjei and many Ghanaians, the last quarter-century has brought many positive changes. More people today see a brighter future for Ghana, although the challenges of low incomes and rural poverty remain complex.The fact that most people in remote villages are raising large families on less than $400 a year is a reminder of how much most people take for granted.At the same time, when a chief interrupts the conversation to talk on his mobile phone, you understand the possibilities presented by a connected world where ideas from anywhere can instantly reach villages once divided by deep rivers or bad roads.One truism about Peace Corps service is that the people you meet, such as Adjei, end up giving back more to you than you could possibly give them.I found that to be as true in 1984 as it is today.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Andy McCormick, a Lititz resident who attended Manheim Township schools, is vice president, public affairs, for Hershey Co. \"Berenice.JPG\"
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');document.write('Cocoa Sustainability Article
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Entry: Bill Guyton, World Cocoa FoundationWe wanted to share with our readers an article written by Bernie Pacyniak, a long time friend of the World Cocoa Foundation. He raises some good points which we wanted to share with you regarding the chocolate industry\'s commitment to cocoa sustainability. Happy holidays!The True Meaning of Sustainability by Bernie Pacyniak December 16, 2009 Haves and have nots. It?s a lot easier to espouse sustainability when you have plenty of resources to ? well, sustain oneself, as opposed to being in a position where you?re fighting to establish a livelihood for yourself and your family.There?s an awful lot of hype out there about sustainability these days. Initially, I wasn?t sure what that actually meant ? something akin to being green, I suspected. From what I remember, Kermit the Frog was green, but in his day that just meant being different.So I thought it best to check on what definitions are out there regarding sustainability. According to Wikipedia, ?Sustainability, in a broad sense, is the capacity to endure. In ecology, the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. For humans, it is the potential for long-term maintenance of well-being, which in turn depends on the well-being of the natural world and the responsible use of natural resources.?That sounded reasonable to me. But as I read the Wikipedia entry further, things got more complicated, with UN resolutions and differing interpretations of what the term means economically, environmentally, politically and the like.In these days of instant labeling, conservative versus liberal, Boomer versus Generations X and Y, senior versus tweenie, it was actually comforting to read that sustainability isn?t necessarily black and white. (What really is, anymore?)From a confectionery point of view ? a narrow one, I?ll admit ? there?s a clearer version of sustainability, specifically when it comes to cocoa and chocolate. The major manufacturers of chocolate products ? Mars, Nestle and Hershey ? together with the major suppliers to the industry ? Barry Callebaut, ADM, Cargill, Blommer and Delfi ? all recognize the fragile nature of sustaining a quality cocoa pipeline.Dubbed the orphan crop because it?s grown, nurtured and harvested by small-scale family farmers as opposed to large-scale corporations, cocoa farming hasn?t received the benefit of large-scale government or industry support.Only recently, thanks to the efforts of the World Cocoa Foundation ? and the broad array of manufacturers, suppliers and agencies that support its efforts ? have concerted attempts been made to make cocoa farming truly sustainable.In my interview with Peter Blommer of Chicago-based Blommer Chocolate Company, featured in this month?s issue, the newly promoted president reiterates that the biggest challenge facing his company and the industry is guaranteeing the availability of good, quality cocoa in the future.Here, too, the answers are straightforward. Part of the solution involves investing in good science, unraveling the cocoa genome and supporting the sometimes not-so-glamorous work of researchers out in the field.Another key component has to do with helping farmers in Third-World countries to implement good husbandry, from pruning to proper pesticide and disease control. It?s also about paying fair prices ? premiums, even ? to farmers to encourage good practices.And as Blommer relates, despite all the genuine efforts from manufacturers, suppliers, non-profit agencies, government groups and concerned individuals, ?we?ve only scratched the surface? when it comes to making cocoa a truly sustainable crop.I totally agree. And it?s our responsibility as an industry that the complexity of the problem not overwhelm us. Moreover, making cocoa a sustainable crop versus an orphan crop would truly set an example of what the word ?sustainability? can mean.
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');document.write('ECHOES: West African Program Benefiting Youth and Young Adults in the Cocoa Sector of Ghana and Cote d?Ivoire
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Entry: David Noyes, World Cocoa Foundation Program CoordinatorI wanted to share with the readers an update from my recent travels in Ghana and Cote d?Ivoire. For those who don?t know me, my name is David Noyes, World Cocoa Foundation Program Coordinator for ECHOES, an initiative funded by USAID and World Cocoa Foundation company members. I am working with Charlie Feezel on the second phase of the program with the ambitious goal of reaching over 160,000 youth and young adults in West Africa. On December 8, 2009 I joined ECHOES partners in Ghana for a local work planning meeting to coordinate activities over the next two years. ECHOES partners IFESH, Winrock International, and World Education brought together their local field staff, IFESH volunteers, and country coordinators to discuss timing of activities in the communities, collaboration and coordination of these activities, and the monitoring and evaluation plan for ECHOES. One of the interesting new activities under the new phase of the program is Community Resource Centers which will be operated by our partners, together with local communities. By October 2010 Winrock International, with significant community contributions, expects to have established eight ICT-enabled community resource centers in the Western Region of Ghana. These centers will be based at junior high schools and will be equipped with computers, internet access (or simulated access through the e-Granary system), printers, photocopiers, scanners, projectors, and books. Once the centers have been established, all three partners will use the space to coordinate training activities, including ICT training for teachers, administrators, and center managers; ICT training for youth; computer-based literacy training for adults; and training for young farmers to enable them to gain access to agricultural information. The first two centers will be operational by the end of January 2010. The ICT centers are particularly interesting to me, since young people in remote areas of Ghana and Cote d?Ivoire will have access for the first time to computers and the internet. Thinking back on when I was a math and science teacher with the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso, I would not have imagined that this would be possible on this kind of scale. As the second phase of ECHOES develops, I look forward to sharing with you some of the achievements, and challenges of bringing improved educational opportunities to youth through this important program. \"ECHOES%20Dec.%202009.jpg\"
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