From April 21 -24th, Enabel participated at the World Cocoa Conference, organized in Brussels.
Mathieu Desantoine, TDC’s marketing coaching programme officer, took part in a panel on ‘Farmer income and Social responsibility in cocoa farming’ where he pointed out that diversification is absolutely essential for cocoa growers to obtain a living income.
A study realized by Fairtrade Belgium, Enabel, chocolaterie Galler and the Yeyasso cooperative on the living income gap of cocoa producers’ households made it clear that households that don’t earn a living income are the ones depending the most on cocoa. It shows that the price paid to the producers today for their cocoa is too low.
In recent years, the Trade for Development Centre had been very active in supporting producers in the cocoa sector. A brief overview of the work that has been done and the main results.
TDC’s support to producer organisations
The TDC has positioned itself in a very important niche: building the capacity of African SMEs in terms of sustainability and decent work (climate resilience, respect for human rights, gender, etc.), business management (finance, governance, etc.) and marketing (positioning, market access, communication, sales).
The support provided by the TDC consists of a customised, participatory coaching programme delivered on the organisation’s premises by specialists in sustainable development, marketing and business management.
The TDC also manages a fund to finance sustainability projects run by producer organisations. Between 2018 and 2022:
- 11 cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire and 3 cooperatives in Ghana were coached in financial management, business management and marketing.
- 8 cooperatives received financial support to develop organic cocoa production, improve the management system or the quality of production, increase resilience to climate change, etc. In total, between 2018 and 2022, the TDC intervened for 1,450,000 euros in the cocoa sector.
Results of support to cocoa producers
Cooperatives win prizes
ECAM and SCINPA were voted best and second-best cocoa cooperative in Côte d’Ivoire. Both cooperatives followed TDC’s coaching programme in marketing from 2016 to 2019.
Ecam has thus become a regional model, increasing its workforce and production volume, while SCINPA has launched its own chocolate bar in partnership with a local chocolatier.
ECAMOM Coop-Ca won an award at the 2021 Fairtrade Africa Convention. The Côte d’Ivoire cooperative received support from the TDC to create new products, in particular a chocolate bar under the “Elika” brand.
CADESA Coop Ca was voted ‘best export cooperative’ in 2021 at the Côte d’Ivoire Business Awards. The cooperative was coached by the TDC in business management and marketing.
Collaboration with the private sector
As part of the Beyond Chocolate partnership, Chocolaterie Galler, the TDC, the Yeyasso cooperative of Côte d’Ivoire, the universities of Ghent and Gembloux and the company Zoto joined forces to carry out a pilot project on the development of organic and high-quality cocoa. The TDC coached Yeyasso in business management and the universities worked on organic farming practices, while ZOTO improved the flavour of cocoa by working on fermentation. After coaching, Yeyasso recorded a 33% increase in certified members and customers. In addition, sales of sustainable cocoa have increased by 881% between 2020 and 2022.
"Thanks to the TDC coaching, we were able to professionalise various aspects of our cooperative, such as the analysis of financial and commercial data, the creation of partnerships, team cohesion, our agroforestry and diversification projects.”
New customers
In 2022, the Director of SCEB, an organic and fair trade cocoa cooperative in Côte d’Ivoire, travelled with TDC coach Jean Cornet to the Biofach world trade fair in Germany. The cooperative attracted 4 potential buyers, including 3 Belgian chocolate makers, resulting in a 164% increase in sales and a 161% increase in income for producers. Kapatchiva, a cooperative of Côte d’Ivoire and a partner of Tony’s Chocolonely, extended its activities to cashew nuts after benefiting from TDC coaching between 2020 and 2022. The cooperative started its cashew nut production on the market in 2021. By the end of 2022, Kapatchiva had 2 regular customers.
Studies on the cocoa sector in Côte d’Ivoire
The TDC has conducted studies on the cooperative ecosystem, direct exports and local processing.
