Education and Training Improves Zamacom—Coop Relationships

Zamacom has just completed our first-ever educational tour of Ivory Coast’s cocoa belt. The goal: to promote education and training among our partner cocoa cooperatives, their farmers and children.

A recent class of graduates

The series of one-day workshops begun in September 2003 has helped over 375 farmers to practice more sustainable agriculture and to increase yield while producing better quality cocoa beans. Training is not top-down, but highly participative, so farmers are highly motivated by what they learn. Often they obtain as much knowledge from fellow farmers as they do from our technicians and trainers. The relaxed atmosphere makes it easier for farmers to discuss even sensitive cultural issues such as employee/ employer relationships in plantation agriculture and parents’ responsibilities toward children living on farms.

A typical workshop addresses:

· Environmental protection
· Proper usage of pesticides
· How to establish a cocoa nursery
· Best practices in cocoa husbandry
· The importance of keeping children in school
· How to determine cocoa defects and quality

During the tour, Zamacom introduced our new personage, Tonton Ladio a colorful comic-book character typifying model agricultural and cooperative behaviors in the cocoa plantation environment.
In a series of free pamphlets and posters, Tonton Ladio protects his environment and practices proper cocoa husbandry while assuring his children’s formal education. Needless to say, Tonton Ladio is a model member of his cooperative who encourages fellow members to produce the best quality cocoa possible. Zamacom management insists that cooperatives include the young and elder farmers in educational workshops. Women are also especially encouraged to participate since they are as active in cocoa culture as their brothers, husbands and sons.

A Trainer in the classroom

Farmers do a cut test for cocoa defects

As our permanent training schedule evolves, Zamacom expects that participating cooperatives will become long-term partners and will provide a larger percentage of the cocoa available to our clients.

Incentives such as the three-classroom school renovation Zamacom completed for the Kavokiva cooperative this September will encourage farmers to heed recommended cocoa husbandry practices.

Grade school newly-renovated for Kavokiva cooperative children