PlantwisePlus Blog

Credit: Phil Taylor © CABI

In the past twenty years, the Ivory Coast has produced over 25 million tonnes of cocoa beans; far more than any other country. However, this video suggests that some cocoa farmers might never have seen the end product of the crop they spend their time cultivating. This has implications for the cocoa supply chain: if farmers don’t know what end product they are aiming for, how can they know how, or even why, they should improve quality of their produce? If there is no ‘top-down’ flow of information on the end uses of a crop, can we be sure of a ‘bottom-up’ flow of information on working conditions and pay? Working towards establishing closer relationships between the beginning and the end of the supply chain, could lead to a greater opportunity for smallholder farmers to get a fair deal.

FAO (2014) FAOSTAT. Production of top 5 producers, cocoa beans, 1993-2013. http://faostat3.fao.org/faostat-gateway/go/to/browse/Q/QC/E

Takepart (2014) How to Make Chocolate Better: Make Sure More Cocoa Farmers Know What It Tastes Like http://www.takepart.com/video/2014/07/31/cocoa-farmer-tries-chocolate?cmpid=foodinc-fb