NON OIL EXPORT WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS` COMMENTS - 3 VIDEO CLIPS
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Post by Trade Coach on Mar 15, 2014 23:32:10 GMT 1
Cocoa beans are an orphan crop. Governments and agricultural companies have not invested in cocoa science, particularly compared to such cash crops as corn, wheat, and soybeans. As a result, there’s been very little modernization of cocoa farming techniques. The vast majority of cocoa growers don’t have a plow; at harvest time, they use a machete. Securing cocoa’s future starts with helping farmers improve their yields—and consequently, their incomes. Mars’s Sustainable Cocoa Initiative, launched in 2010, gives farmers improved planting materials, fertilizers, and training, which will enable them to produce more cocoa per hectare. For instance, we are establishing networks of rural entrepreneurs who can lead cocoa plant rehabilitation in remote cocoa growing regions. Rehabilitation, which involves using a branch, or “budwood,” of a new tree to restore an old one, produces more fruitful trees. In Indonesia and West Africa, this kind of support can help farmers triple their yields. This not only boosts the global supply of cocoa, it helps farmers lift their families out of poverty. Our hope is that the children of cocoa farmers will see a future in cocoa farming. Source: www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-14/mars-cocoa-sustainability-manager-fights-a-global-chocolate-famine
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