World Cocoa Foundation African Cocoa Initiative to Benefit 100,000 Cocoa Farm Families

The World Cocoa Foundation African Cocoa Initiative launched on March 13 at the Ghanaian Ministry of Finance in Accra. This Global Development Alliance partnership is supported by Feed the Future through USAID, the World Cocoa Foundation, and the Sustainable Trade Initiative.

It will help overcome the productivity gap between the world’s cocoa supply and demand by fostering public-private cooperative investments in cocoa and agriculture, improving the genetic quality and productivity of cocoa varieties under cultivation, expanding farmer education and training programs, and improving the agricultural input supply chains that serve farmers.

The partnership leverages support from World Cocoa Foundation member companies including Cargill, Guittard Chocolate Company, The Hershey Company, Kraft Foods, Lindt & Sprüngli, Mars, and Nestlé. In addition to USAID, the national governments of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, and Nigeria are also providing public sector support.

The partnership will support trainings for 100,000 cocoa farmers and aims to help alleviate poverty, strengthen government and regional institutions, and advance food security in these four cocoa-producing countries.