In Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, farmers are already seeing the increasing impact of climate change. Higher temperatures, less regular rainfall and extended periods of drought are leading to a lower crop yield and, in turn, a lower income.
Yet for more than a hundred years, cocoa has been an important crop for smallholder farms across western Africa. Today, around 70% of the world’s chocolate comes from small, privately owned cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria, where local farmers are at the helm of cocoa production.
However, with increased environmental degradation, lack of investment and the climate crisis, it is becoming increasingly difficult to farm cocoa. As a result, good farming practices have never been more important.
Building incentive through good practice
What does “good practice” mean to cocoa farmers today? “Pruning is key,” says Darrell High, head of Nestlé’s Cocoa Plan – an initiative committed to implementing sustainable cocoa farming.
“On a visit to Côte d’Ivoire [years ago], I found cocoa plants that were a tangle of branches, all crossing over each other. So we decided to prune the tree. Afterwards, the productivity of cocoa improved. In fact, the farmer harvested two tonnes of cocoa per hectare from this particular pruned plot, when the typical expected productivity is just 400kg per hectare. That wasn’t because the trees were special – it was the healthy effect of pruning.”
The benefits of pruning are considerable. Fungal diseases and insect-borne diseases are reduced by better aeration. “We have put together local ‘pruning groups’ of farmers and young adults, and we are training and equipping them to manage the cocoa plants in a better way,” says High, who visits the farms at least three times a year. “There are around 10,000 people involved in pruning between March and June each year – it’s an important operation.”
The incentive for farmers? Nestlé’s Income Accelerator programme – which engages farmers by providing financial support of up to €500 (£425) a year for two years – if they adopt positive practices in four key areas: diversifying income sources; school enrolment; good agricultural practices; and undertaking regeneration initiatives. Farmers receive €100 for achieving their targets in each of the four key areas and an additional €100 bonus if they succeed across the board. A further €250 (£210) is provided annually thereafter for continuing the work. Plus, pruning is likely to result in an increased yield and, therefore, increased profits for farmers.
“This means that by simply committing to practices such as pruning, the farmer receives €50 under the Income Accelerator’s ‘good agricultural practices’ pillar,” says High. “A further €50 is paid if the pruning targets are then achieved. The programme is already supporting over 28,000 families in Côte d’Ivoire and 2,000 in Ghana.”
The same incentive approach applies to tree planting, which is being encouraged on cocoa farms. Even a small patch of trees helps to renew nutrients in the soil through varied root structures and by adding organic matter – which helps to improve the ecosystem’s resilience to climate change.
On the farms, shade management continues to be a crucial tool for ensuring cocoa plantations are protected from adverse weather events such as extended periods of drought – an effect of climate change that is becoming more prominent. “Cocoa needs regularity in rainfall and dry seasons to kick off the flowering, fruiting and maturity of the crop,” says High. “Changes in weather patterns are likely to reduce the yield – and that’s what farmers are seeing already.”
In tropical climates such as west Africa, trees can provide much-needed shade to lower surface temperatures. Additionally, tree leaves release moisture into the atmosphere, building up humidity and clouds that may eventually turn into rainfall, allowing more favourable conditions for increased cocoa productivity.
The Income Accelerator Programme encourages the planting of fruit trees for this reason, with Nestlé supplying the saplings and paying the farmers to plant and then maintain the trees. As a bonus, the harvested fruit can provide extra income for farming families, allowing them to diversify their income outside of the cocoa season.
Plenty of evidence suggests that the incentivisation initiative is working. After 18 months, cocoa production increased by 32%.
Protecting the primary forests of western Africa
One of the major aims of the Nestlé Cocoa Plan is to build a deforestation-free cocoa supply chain by 2025. To aid this, the company has teamed up with the Côte d’Ivoire’s forest development agency, the Société de Développement des Forêts, to restore valuable, longstanding ecosystems, such as the Cavally Forest Reserve in Côte d’Ivoire.
Using satellite and radar imagery to identify potential threats of deforestation, Nestlé works alongside a team of 80 local patrollers, the World Cocoa Foundation, Rainforest Alliance and Earthworm Foundation, to protect the monitored areas.
In Côte d’Ivoire, clusters of sacred forests are home to plants that have been used for traditional medicines for centuries, not to mention their historical and cultural significance in creating clothing, headdresses and tools. Understandably, then, for local communities, protecting native forests is essential. “There is such history to these forests, which hold traditional beliefs,” says High. “Particularly the remaining community forests, which, although small, are highly valued.”
On the borders of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, in a cocoa growing area around the Beki and Bossematie forests, Nestlé implemented a widespread information campaign reaching out to 8,000 local people – empowering and educating them on the value of trees to discourage deforestation, and practising regenerative agriculture. “Those areas are so fertile that when you protect and regenerate them, nature just booms,” says High. Since 2018, Nestlé has supported the planting of more than 4.2m agroforestry trees in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
“Improving cocoa productivity benefits the farmer in the best way – by increasing their income,” says High. “We are here to support farmers as they use the right practices, so that they can generate better productivity.” All round, it’s a win-win situation.
Learn more about the great work that KitKat Breaks For Good is promoting within cocoa farming communities at kitkat.co.uk/breaks-for-good
