Articles

Technical Approach

The post-harvest processing framework to be established by the Association is engaging in fermentation and solar drying at the community level. This will dramatically reduce the cost associated with processing the beans as well as ensuring the quality of the finished product.

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The quality improvement is obtained by the collection of pods instead of wet beans and breaking of the pods only at the start of the fermentation process.

This cost savings from this new post-harvest processing will directly translate into farmers receiving a higher farm-gate price than now currently obtained.
For the industry to be revived there has to be specific actions taken to address shortcomings.
The JCFA is advocating:

1. Strategies to address disincentives to cocoa production, primarily prices received per wet box for cocoa, extension services, financing, availability of input supplies and tools.
2. Cocoa farmers should be trained in best practices through a series of field workshops using lead farmers plots.
3. Rehabilitating existing cocoa fields
4. Improve yields systematically across farm sizes.
5. Facilitate farmers desire to expand cocoa acreages, while at the same time pursuing the rehabilitation of existing fields.

The activities being proposed would directly benefit approximately 1,000 individuals who are primarily small farmers with access to 8 acres or less of land. Specific benefits to the farmers and farming communities would include a 100% or greater increase in their current income from cocoa, job creation in rural communities, increase in knowledge and skill levels of farmers and farm employees, greater cohesiveness within farming communities, increased use of solar drying and decreased use of fossil fuels to process cocoa. In other words JCFA is advocating and espousing environmentally friendly techniques.