Ivory Coast - Cocoa Development Centers Take Off - ECOM becomes first supply chain partner to build CDC Comment from a guest, Peter van Grinsven, Mars Cocoa Sustainability Director of the Operations and Origins department That’s why we’re proud to [...]

Indonesia - Training of the Sustainable Agriculture Standards In Indonesia, the industry has seen declines in both quality and yields in recent years. This and the global demand for certified cocoa led ECOM to consider Indonesia as another country of [...]

Nicaragua is considered to have excellent potential as a cocoa producing country. In 2011, Exportadora Atlantic was approached by many international development organizations interested in helping farmers renovate old farms and plant new area with cocoa. In collaboration, Atlantic is [...]

Mexico experienced an approximate 50% reduction in the production of cocoa since the disease moniliasis (frosty pod rot) first struck cocoa farms in 2005. Of the two cocoa growing regions in Mexico, Chiapas has encountered significant obstacles in overcoming the [...]

SOCAMAK, Cameroon The development of farmer organizations in Cameroon is significantly less advanced than in Ivory Coast or Nigeria. ECOM’s work has to-date strengthened one existing farmer cooperative by focusing initially on up-country fermentation, drying and bagging. By implementing a [...]

Ecuador - Training for Utz certification In Ecuador, small scale cocoa producers in the region of Manabi have received little training in good agricultural practices and as a result most farmers encounter very low yields. In the fall of 2011, [...]

Papua New Guinea - Cocoa sustainability initiatives in PNG are channeled through Monpi Sustainable Services (MSS) MSS is a PNG local company that actively develops the capacity of farmers in PNG to increase yields, increase sustainability, develop and implement education [...]

Nigeria - Training for UTZ and RA certification with a strong focus on yield improvement Building on the successful experiences in Ivory Coast, the Yara cocoa sustainability project seeks to increase farmer yields through training in: GAP – Good Agricultural [...]

Ivory Coast - Improving agricultural, social and environmental practices through training and organization ECOM’s agronomy division in Ivory Coast, Akwacao, was established in 2009 and now employs 40 farmer organization administrators and agronomists and over 200 farmer trainers. As part [...]