Trees to save chocolate!
Researchers from the TERRA Research and Education Center (Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech / University of Liège) are taking part in the People, Planet and Cocoa project, promoted by the chocolate maker Galler and financed by the King Baudouin Foundation. The project aims to develop sustainable cocoa production for the producers of the Yeyasso cooperative in Côte d'Ivoire. In charge of the "Agroforestry" activities, Barbara Haurez and Jean-Louis Doucet will contribute their scientific expertise during the three years of the project.
Tropical agriculture currently produces about 80 per cent of the world's food supply, and the majority of this production is carried out by small family farms, often living below the poverty line. A major challenge for tropical agriculture is therefore to improve the income of family farms. Considering the impacts of climate change, however, it is essential that this increase be the result of sustainable practices adapted to the more extreme conditions that are looming. By creating a more favourable microclimate and diversifying agricultural production, agroforestry is a practice that should make it possible to meet the challenges of an agriculture that fulfills the objectives of sustainable development.
Cocoa, with which the famous Belgian chocolate is produced, is a species of forest origin whose cultivation lends itself well to agroforestry. However, in Côte d'Ivoire, a country that produces 40% of the world's cocoa, the majority of plantations are currently monocultures, a system whose sustainability is highly questioned. Recent climate models show a sharp decline in favourable climatic conditions for cocoa production in West Africa. The conversion of monocultures into agroforestry systems would provide greater crop resilience, while meeting the social and economic needs of Ivorian cocoa farmers.
The project People, Planet and Cocoa - Sustainable Cocoa Production for Producers of the Yeyasso Cooperative in Côte d'Ivoire received funding from the King Baudouin Foundation through the Business Partnership Facility in December 2019. Led by Belgian chocolate maker Galler, People, Planet and Cocoa is a partnership with the Fairtrade Belgium association, the Ivorian cooperative Yeyasso, the No Nonsense Marketing office, the University Nangui Abrogoua (Ivory Coast) and Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (University of Liège).
The project has three components of action:
- the implementation of agroforestry practices in the cooperative's cocoa plantations,
- the strengthening of the socio-economic role of women
- the improvement of producers' incomes with a view to achieving the "Living Income".
In charge of the "Agroforestry" activities, Barbara Haurez (Laboratory of Tropical Agroecology, Agriculture is life) and Jean-Louis Doucet (Tropical Forestry Laboratory, Forest is life) will contribute their scientific expertise during the three years of the project. Three students from the University of Liège have begun an in-depth diagnosis of cocoa production implemented by the members of Yeyasso. Thanks to a participatory approach, the most easily appropriable and reproducible technical itineraries will be identified. The most interesting local agroforestry species will be selected on the basis of their multi-use values (production of timber, energy wood, non-timber forest products, soil fertilization, etc.) and in consultation with cocoa farmers. The sustainability of the project and the empowerment of the cooperative will be promoted through the establishment of nurseries, which will ensure the production of agroforestry plants in the long term.
The project's partner producers will be trained in agroforestry techniques and nursery management through on-the-job coaching. Income diversification will be achieved through the processing and marketing of agroforestry and agricultural products. Depending on the species and the valorisation processes chosen by the producers (fruit juices, dried fruits, jams, caterpillars, timber, charcoal, etc.) certain processing infrastructures and necessary equipment will be set up. Training in processing techniques will be organized for the members of the cooperative.
Contact
Barbara HAUREZ, Laboratory of Tropical Agroecology, Agriculture is life, TERRA Research and Teaching Centre, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech
Illustrations : "Reconciling trees and cocoa trees in a sustainable way, the objective of the People, Planet and Cocoa project"
© Jean-Louis Doucet
