Over the past years, Tony’s Open Chain and its partner cooperatives have focused on building strong foundations for sustainable cocoa farming and enhanced productivity. We have done this through the setup and implementation of a farmer coaching programme as well as the distribution of seedlings and nurseries towards enabling improved agroforestry practices. Through the coaching programme, cocoa farmers are trained to regularly harvest, prune and replace old or diseased cocoa trees, and develop their agroforestry practices. They are visited by coaches twice a year to review farm development progress and make recommendations for further improvement of practices. In the 2024/25 season, 156 coaches provided guidance on improved productivity and agroforestry practices to an estimated 23,000+ farmers.
The Sustainability Lead at ECOJAD on the collaborative coaching programme with Tony’s Open Chain: “Coaching makes it possible to carry out a technical analysis of the farmer’s plantation. With the knowledge we gain we can: • Collect all information related to the farmer’s plantation (density, pruning, incurable diseases, harvest, production, physical condition, soil health, etc.). • Collect all information related to farming practices used. • Gather information on income sources, the farmer’s revenues and expenses. • Technically analyse the farmer’s plantation and provide recommendations to the producer, which aim to boost the plantation’s yield and prevent cocoa-related diseases. • Assist and train farmers in applying recommendations. Coaches monitor the implementation of recommendations and follow up with the farmer. Over the past few months, we have seen a significant increase in productivity thanks to tailored training for our farmers and regular visits from specialist coaches. These efforts have yielded concrete results that make our cooperative more resilient and competitive.”
67
Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker