COPAL COCOA Info. 450.doc · Web viewNEW YORK (ICE) FUTURES MARKET UPDATE FROM THE NEWS MEDIA tit bits Meeting of Head of Cocoa Research Institutes, 19th – 22nd July, 2011, COPAL

INSIDE THIS ISSE:

ICCO DAILY COCOA PRICES LONDON (LIFFE) FUTURES

MARKET UPDATE NEW YORK (ICE) FUTURES

MARKET UPDATE FROM THE NEWS MEDIA TIT BITS

1. Meeting of Head of Cocoa Research Institutes, 19th – 22nd July, 2011, COPAL Secretariat, Lagos, Nigeria

2. Certification Workshop, 12th – 13th September, 2011, Brasilia, Brazil

3. Meeting of Market Committee of Experts, 13th September, 2011, Brasilia, Brazil

4. 74th General Assembly of COPAL, 14th – 16th September, 2011, Brasilia, Brazil

5. Basic Chocolate Making Course, 4th – 7th October, 2011, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

COPAL COCOACOPAL COCOA InfoInfo A Weekly Newsletter of Cocoa Producers' Alliance

Health and Nutrition

Production and Quality Cargill trains Cameroon farmers to boost cocoa

output Ivory Coast ’11/12 cocoa output down 15 pct:

Armajaro

The Market Raw-Sugar Futures Climb on Brazil Crop Concern;

Coffee Falls; Cocoa Rises Cocoa prices lose support Cameroon Cocoa Exports at $2.98 a Kilogram in

Week to July 25 Ivorian cocoa prices fall on decline in quality

Processing & Manufacturing

Labour Issues ILO supports government to eliminate child

labour in Cocoa growing areas Farmers asked to stop Child labour

Environmental Issue

Research & Development

Promotion & Consumption

Others Ghana’s cocoa farmers get solar powered

boreholes Use only recommended pesticides on cocoa

Do your health a favour, drink Cocoa everyday

‘It’s nature’s miracle food’UP-COMING EVENTSUP-COMING EVENTS IN THISIN THIS

Issue No. 450 25th – 29th July 2011

Business & Economy Chocolate heaven at Wokingham Food and Drink

Festival

farms

In the News (from Newspapers worldwide)

ICCO Daily Cocoa PricesICCO Daily Price

(SDR/tonne)ICCO Daily price

($US/tonne)London futures

(£/tonne)New York futures

($US/tonne)

25th July 1905.77 3055.41 1897.00 3028.67

26th July 1919.93 3090.1 1901.33 3070.67

27th July 1930.04 3105.96 1918.33 3081.00

28th July 1904.53 3050.07 1890.33 3018.33

29th July 1909.19 3052.79 1879.33 3019.33

Average 1914.00 3071.00 1897.00 3044.00

COCOA PRODUCERS’ ALLIANCE, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY COMPLEX TAFAWA BALEWA SQUARE, P.O. BOX 1718, LAGOS, NIGERIA. TEL: +234(0)1-263-5574 FAX: +234(0)1-263-5684

Email: [email protected] Website: www.copal-cpa.org2

mailto:[email protected]

International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE)London Futures Market – Summary of Trading Activities

(£ per tone)

Monday 25th July 2011 Month Opening Trans Settle Change Daily High Daily Low Volume

Sep 2011 1897 1870 -31 1907 1867S 6,775Dec 2011 1927 1900 -31 1938S 1896S 4,063Mar 2012 1948 1921 -31 1957S 1917S 2,466May 2012 1952 1929 -31 1964S 1926S 893

Jul-12 1965 1934 -32 1966S 1929 1,557Sep-12 1970 1944 -29 1970S 1939S 62

Dec 2012 1946 -27 0Mar 2013 1953 -27 0May 2013 1944 -33 0Jul 2013 1944 -33 0

Average/Totals 1929 15,816

Tuesday 26th July 2011 Month Opening Trans Settle Change Daily High Daily Low Volume

Sep 2011 1860 1873 3 1879 1856 6,049Dec 2011 1895 1905 5 1910S 1887S 3,910Mar 2012 1921 1926 5 1932S 1910S 2,279May 2012 1923 1936 7 1944S 1918 1,569

Jul-12 1928 1940 6 1945 1924 506Sep-12 1944 1948 4 1955S 1937S 113

Dec 2012 1959 1947 1 1959 1959 3Mar 2013 1954 1 0May 2013 1945 1 0Jul 2013 1945 1 0


Wednesday 27th July 2011 Month Opening Trans Settle Change High Low Volume

Sep 2011 1865 1890 17 1904 1864 5,426Dec 2011 1895 1922 17 1935S 1895 3,969Mar 2012 1918 1943 17 1956S 1915 974May 2012 1930 1954 18 1964S 1925 380

Jul-12 1935 1958 18 1971S 1935S 205Sep-12 1958 1966 18 1983S 1943 397

Dec 2012 1971 24 0Mar 2013 1981 27 0May 2013 1979 34 0Jul 2013 1979 34 0


Thursday 28th July 2011 Month Opening Trans Settle Change High Low Volume

Sep 2011 1893 1862 -28 1903 1860 3,793



http://www.nybot.com/reports/dmrs/etsDMRs/dmrFutures.asp?dmrMonth=04&dmrDay=11&dmrYear=2007&commodityID=1&commodityType=future







Dec 2011 1933 1894 -28 1933S 1892S 3,303Mar 2012 1954 1915 -28 1954S 1914S 793May 2012 1949 1925 -29 1951S 1925S 98

Jul-12 1943 1931 -27 1943 1937S 30Sep-12 1952 1940 -26 1952S 1946S 32

Dec 2012 1960 1940 -31 1960S 1960S 10Mar 2013 1950 -31 0May 2013 1948 -31 0Jul 2013 1948 -31 0


Friday 29th July 2011 Month Opening Trans Settle Change High Low Volume

Sep 2011 1867 1852 -10 1873 1845S 5,754Dec 2011 1899 1885 -9 1904 1880 4,482

Mar 2012 1920 1901 -14 1920 1897 3,293May 2012 1922 1912 -13 1929S 1910S 669

Jul-12 1931 1918 -13 1932S 1916S 153Sep-12 1938 1928 -12 1938S 1924S 81

Dec 2012 1948 1940 0 1950 1935S 784Mar 2013 1946 1949 -1 1951S 1946S 6

May 2013 1948 0 0Jul 20113 1948 0 0


Average for the week 1918 15756 78,782









New York Board of Trade(New York Futures Market – Summary of Trading Activities)

(US$ per tone)

Monday 25th July 2011 Month Open Price Change High Low Volume

Sep 2011 3065 2996 -69 3065 2973 17,091Dec 2011 3085 3025 -68 3090 2998 9,427Mar 2012 3113 3071 -70 3113 3048 1,837May 2012 3110 3073 -70 3115 3048 430Jul 2012 3118 3078 -70 3120 3058 176Sep 2012 3117 3083 -70 3124 3063 442Dec 2012 3127 3086 -68 3129 3078 68Mar 2013 3141 3097 -68 3143 3092 11May 2013 0 3102 -68 0 0 0

Average/Totals 3068 29482

Tuesday 26th July 2011 Month Open Price Change High Low Volume

Sep 2011 2989 3015 19 3040 2983 15,416Dec 2011 3025 3047 22 3067 3012 10,123Mar 2012 3075 3095 24 3114 3072 1,668May 2012 3074 3096 23 3115 3074 460Jul 2012 3099 3102 24 3122 3098 155Sep 2012 3108 3108 25 3114 3099 112Dec 2012 3110 3113 27 3110 3110 2Mar 2013 0 3124 27 0 0 0May 2013 0 3129 27 0 0 0


Wednesday 27th July 2011 Month Open Price Change High Low Volume

Sep 2011 3012 3036 21 3055 2981 13,682Dec 2011 3038 3073 26 3087 3018 8,136Mar 2012 3074 3119 24 3125 3065 1,883May 2012 3087 3121 25 3125 3066 547Jul 2012 3095 3129 27 3125 3086 621Sep 2012 3096 3135 27 3129 3096 181Dec 2012 0 3142 29 0 0 34Mar 2013 0 3152 28 0 0 3May 2013 0 3157 28 0 0 0


Thursday 28th July 2011 Month Open Price Change High Low Volume

Sep 2011 3033 2974 -62 3048 2972 11,360Dec 2011 3071 3011 -62 3072 3007 7,000










Mar 2012 3115 3058 -61 3117 3054 1,413May 2012 3115 3062 -59 3119 3059 243Jul 2012 3083 3070 -59 3083 3083 6Sep 2012 3087 3076 -59 3087 3080 46Dec 2012 0 3083 -59 0 0 5Mar 2013 0 3093 -59 0 0 0May 2013 0 3098 -59 0 0 0


Friday 29th July 2011 Month Open Price Change High Low Volume

Sep 2011 2972 2974 0 3003 2956 9,562Dec 2011 3007 3008 -3 3037 2994 6,222Mar 2012 3058 3056 -2 3081 3038 2,340May 2012 3052 3059 -3 3078 3052 297Jul 2012 3052 3068 -2 3087 3052 110Sep 2012 3070 3072 -4 3072 3070 174Dec 2012 3065 3081 -2 3100 3065 131Mar 2013 0 3095 2 0 0 31May 2013 0 3104 6 0 0 20


Average for the week 3057 3777 3777











News

Health and Nutrit

Cargill trains Cameroon farmers to boost cocoa outputReuters AfricaJul 28, 2011 YAOUNDE (Reuters) - U.S. agribusiness firm Cargill Inc said on Wednesday it plans to train about 500 cocoa farmers in Cameroon, to help them boost production and quality in the world's fifth cocoa grower.

Wendy Garbutt, communications executive at Cargill, said the programme will mirror a similar project in Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer. "This program is a four-year commitment. If the farmers succeed in passing the audits for certification they will be able to start delivering their certified cocoa as from the next crop year, that is September-October 2012," Garbutt said.

The project will not only train individual small-scale farmers on good agricultural practices, but will also focus on strengthening farmer organisations, he said.

Harold Poelma, managing director of Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate division, said the first year of a similar project in Ivory Coast saw on average, a 47 percent increase in yields, rising from 559 to 882 kilograms per hectare.

The programme will be carried out in the South West region of the country, a top cocoa producing area, in partnership with Telcar Cocoa, Cargill's joint venture partner and the country's leading cocoa exporter.

Cameroon plans to double cocoa production, one of its main foreign-exchange earners, by 2015, through the distribution of an improved variety of seedlings that yields more than 1,000 kg per hectare. The country's cocoa sector has forecast production for the season to reach a season record 230,000 tonnes compared with 197,000 tonnes last season.

Ivory Coast ’11/12 cocoa output down 15 pct: ArmajaroWritten by HMHJuly 28, 2011

LONDON (Reuters) – Ivory Coast and Ghana 2011/12 cocoa production is expected to fall 15 percent on the year, helping switch the global market into a deficit of over 100,000 tonnes, international trade house Armajaro Trading Limited said on Wednesday.

Ideal weather conditions in West Africa led to a bumper crop in 2010/11 and Armajaro expects the coming 2011/12 crop to revert to lower production. “The weather is not as good. The pod counts now don’t look as good as they did this time last year,” William Venables, head of cocoa at Armajaro said.

“We’ve gone over 300,000 tonnes now in our surplus for 2010/11, but at the same time our deficit is creeping higher for 2011/12.”

Venables declined to give production forecasts for Ivory Coast and Ghana, which together produce more than half of the world’s cocoa.



NEWS

Health and Nutrition

Production & Quality


http://cocoa.commoditynewszone.net/2011/07/28/ivory-coast-1112-cocoa-output-down-15-pct-armajaro/cocoa-market-news-commodity-news-zone-121/

Earlier this month, commodities broker Marex Spectron estimated 2011/12 Ivory Coast production falling about 9 percent to 1.35 million tonnes, from 1.48 million tonnes the previous crop year.

It also saw Ghana production falling about 11 percent on the year to 805,000 tonnes from 905,000. “We’re not looking at any major issues, we’re looking for normalisation of the crop. The crop number will be falling back into line with the previous 3 or 4 years in Ivory Coast which was showing a flattish trend,” Venables said.

Armajaro, one of the world’s top buyers of cocoa beans, in July conducted its first Ivory Coast pod count since months of unrest following a disputed presidential election brought the country’s cocoa industry to a standstill earlier this year.

Assessing pods on cocoa trees is the primary forecasting tool for cocoa production. The political turmoil and consequent security concerns in Ivory Coast prevented pod counting activities for several months.

Raw-Sugar Futures Climb on Brazil Crop Concern; Coffee Falls; Cocoa RisesWritten by HMH July 28, 2011

Sugar gained for the second straight day as output in Brazil, the world’s biggest exporter and producer, may fall because of adverse weather. Coffee declined, while cocoa advanced.

Sugar output in Brazil’s Center South, the country’s main producing region, may decline 7.5 percent from a year earlier because of dry weather and a frost earlier this month, Michael McDougall, a senior vice president at New York-based commodity broker Newedge, said today in a telephone interview. Futures in New York are heading for a third

straight monthly advance.

“The sugar content has been lower than expectations and that is a cause of concern,” Ricardo Scaff, a trader at Rabobank International in New York, said in a telephone interview. “Many analysts are revising their estimate downwards for the Center South crop.”

Raw sugar for October delivery rose 0.19 cent, or 0.6 percent, to settle at 31.13 cents a pound at 2 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The commodity has climbed 69 percent in the past year.

Arabica-coffee futures for September delivery retreated 3.75 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $2.412 a pound in New York, the biggest decline since July 19.

Cocoa futures for September delivery rose $21, or 0.7 percent, to $3,036 a metric ton on ICE.

On NYSE Liffe in London, refined sugar and robusta coffee dropped, while cocoa advanced.

Cocoa prices lose supportWritten by HMH July 28, 2011

Any investors who have taken out long positions on the cocoa market via exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) should take heed of the latest market appraisal by ABN Amro, which warned that the commodity price was at



The Market


http://cocoa.commoditynewszone.net/2011/07/28/raw-sugar-futures-climb-on-brazil-crop-concern-coffee-falls-cocoa-rises/cocoa-market-news-commodity-news-zone-120/

http://cocoa.commoditynewszone.net/2011/07/28/cocoa-prices-lose-support/cocoa-market-news-commodity-news-zone-122/

risk of “precipitous collapse” following a bumper season for growers in the Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana – the world’s two largest producers.

Despite the probable out-turn in West Africa, and a predicted cocoa surplus of 227,000 tonnes for 2010-11, prices are still only marginally below the range recorded during the height of the recent political strife in the Côte d’Ivoire. It’s worth noting that around half of the 470,000 tonnes of cocoa held in warehouses as a result of Alassane Ouattara’s export ban has yet to make its way on to world markets, which should also serve to soften prices.

On the flip-side, projected support for the cocoa price is provided by the unlikely scenario afforded by a second, successive high-grade season in West Africa. Aside from civil war, various blights – chief among them swollen shoot disease – have regularly decimated crops in recent years. Another big exporter, Indonesia, has been struggling to contain a disease outbreak that is threatening its exports.

Cameroon Cocoa Exports at $2.98 a Kilogram in Week to July 25Written by HMH July 28, 2011

The export price of cocoa from Cameroon, Africa’s fourth-biggest grower of the beans, was little changed in the week to July 25, according to data from the Cocoa and Coffee Board.

The average rate declined to 1,350 CFA francs ($2.98) a kilogram (2.2 pounds), compared with 1,352 CFA francs a week earlier, according to Bloomberg calculations of data sent by mobile-phone text message from the board today.

Cameroon’s cocoa production in the season, which started in August, to May 31 rose 23 percent to 222,200 metric tons, according to the Douala-based board’s data. Cameroon follows Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria in African cocoa output. The season ends July 31.

Ivorian cocoa prices fall on decline in qualityReuters AfricaBy Loucoumane Coulibaly Jul 28, 2011 ABIDJAN, July 28 (Reuters) - Cocoa farmgate prices in Ivory Coast fell sharply last week in most growing regions, as beans were of poor quality and competition weak with the mid-crop tailing off, farmers said on Thursday.




http://cocoa.commoditynewszone.net/2011/07/12/cocoa-seen-at-highest-since-1979-on-africa-indonesia-fix-freight-markets/cocoa-market-news-commodity-news-zone-134/

In the southern region of Divo, farmers said the average price was between 400 CFA francs and 500 CFA francs per kg, compared with between 500 and 600 CFA the previous week. "It's hard to find buyers offering a good price. The beans are grey and mouldy," said farmer Mathurin Kouame who farms near Divo.

In the western region of Duekoue, farmers said the average price dropped to about 600 CFA francs per kg, from around 650 CFA the previous week as beans were mouldy and of small size.

"The buyers say the beans don't contain enough chocolate because they're too small," said farmer Mamadou Kone.

"And the problem of mould hasn't gone away."

In the western region of Soubre, at the heart of the cocoa belt, farmers said the average price fell to between 500 CFA francs and 550 CFA from between 700 CFA and 750 CFA the previous week, due to a lack of competition. "Buyers are getting rare. The small buyers are knocking a lot of the price because of the small size," said Soubre farmer Salam Kone. In the centre-western region of Daloa, farmers said the average price declined to between 500 CFA and 600 CFA, from 600 CFA and 650 CFA. "The buyers say they are reducing prices because they are down at the port of Abidjan. Either way, there's not a lot of cocoa left," said farmer Marcel Aka.

Chocolate heaven at Wokingham Food and Drink FestivalReading PostBy Caroline CookJuly 28, 2011

Adrian Smith, owner of Mortimer Chocolate, will be bringing his brand of cocoa-infused magic to the Wokingham Food and Drink Festival next month

Chocolate custard, chocolate ice lollies, chocolate strawberries and chocolate courgette cake – there’s not much you cannot do with the rich velvety products produced by Mortimer Chocolate.

And chocoholics are going to be in cocoa-covered heaven when the company opens its stall at the Wokingham Food and Drink Festival next month.

Offering delicious fluffy brownies piled high on plates and packets of the finest chocolate powder lined up in rows Mortimer Chocolate will be bringing a touch of Willy Wonka-style magic to this year’s festival.

Owner Adrian Smith founded the company five-and-a-half-years ago after a 20-year career working as a cocoa taster for global chocolate giant Mars.

Having helped the brand launch its Galaxy and Malteasers hot chocolate drinks Adrian decided to create his own high-quality hot chocolate powder oozing flavour from cocoa beans harvested around the world.

“We have a unique process to make our own chocolate powder,” he says.

“It makes a range of exquisite hot chocolate drinks and you can cook with it as well.

“We have a secret process for making our products. We important our cocoa from various parts of the world bringing it from South America and Africa.

“Cocoa is like grapes and wine – you get different flavours according to where they are grown.”



Business & Economy

Processing & Manufacturing


From the sharp dark chocolate tastes of South America to the mellow cocoas of West Africa Mortimer Chocolate has mastered the art of creating a delicious chocolate powder, which can be mixed with sugar and hot milk to suit individual preferences.

And Adrian is something of a chocolate purist creating only the finest products, free from fats, additives and other mixers, to give people the authentic chocolate taste.

“Our chocolate is too good to spoil with things like chilli and that is very difficult to get right,” says Adrian, preferring to let his customers try their own unique flavours.“If you try it you’re going to put too little or too much for most people.

“We have instructions to make a chilli drink on our website so you can get it right for you.”

With around 60 recipes on the company’s website the chocolate possibilities are endless for customers of Mortimer Chocolate, with melting moments and Viennese swirls among the temptations listed.

The company, which also has products stocked in supermarket giant Waitrose, will bring its rich, chocolatey brownies to the food festival which are handmade by Adrian’s wife Felicity and always fly off the stands.

“The brownies are gorgeous,” says Adrian who will be returning to the event once again this year, which runs from Friday, August 26, to Sunday, August 28.

“We used to sample them and so many people would say, ‘Do you sell them?’ so we started.

“The festival is really good. We have been in torrential rain and in sunshine as well but it’s always been good fun.”

Kate Lole, festival organiser, says: “I always look forward to seeing Mortimer Chocolate at the festival.

“I know I can purchase my favourite products at Waitrose in Wokingham but there is something special about being able to talk to the business owners Adrian and Felicity and to catch up on all the latest news.”

And you can bet that chocoholics will be making a beeline for the Mortimer Chocolate stall at the festival to satisfy their chocolate cravings and restock the tastiest item in their store cupboards at home.

To take a look at the recipes yourself visit www.mortimerchocolate.co.uk.

For more details on the Wokingham Food Festival – which also includes a beer and music festival and takes place in Elms Field – log on to www.wokinghamfestival.co.uk or call organisers on 0118 978 8801.

ILO supports government to eliminate child labour in Cocoa growing areasBusinessGhanaSource: GNA28th July 2011The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is currently supporting the Ghana Government in its efforts to eliminate child labour through a new project dubbed “The Cocoa Community Project” (CCP).

The Project titled “Towards Child Labour-Free Cocoa Growing Communities in Cote D’lvoire and Ghana through an integrated area based approach”, was expected to benefit about 3,500 children and improve access to both formal and non-formal education as well as vocational training.

Speaking at the opening of a two-day district level consultative workshop for cocoa growing communities at Suhum in the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar in district of the Eastern Region, Mrs Stella Ofori, Principal Labour



Labour Issues


Officer in the Labour Department of the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, said the district was selected due to the high child labour cases in the area which is also known for high cocoa production.

She said government had established the National Plan of Action (NPA) aimed at promoting a more coordinated effort towards the elimination of Worst Forms of Child labour (WFCL) by 2015.

“The NPA will provide an integrated framework for harmonizing all relevant actions by different partners in order to tackle the problem in a well coordinated and sustained manner,” she added.

She said the NPA strategies to achieve the 2015 goal included enforcement of the law, broad-based sensitization and social mobilisation, protection of children‘s rights, promotion of their welfare, the pursuit of universal basic education and the improvement of post–basic education.

Other strategic areas are the withdrawal of children below 18 years from the WFCL and protection of working children aged above 15 years from exploitation and hazardous work, and the development of institutional capacity at all levels to ensure the effective application of established procedure and protocols, among other issues.

She noted that the new ILO project would establish an inventory of available social interventions and other complimentary services to which interventions may be linked.

Mrs Ofori said the CCP had five components that would contribute to the NPA through awareness–raising and development of community action plan, access to relevant education, improved and diversified livelihoods, child labour monitoring systems and capacity building in the communities.

The Principal labour officer said the strategic areas of intervention were livelihood empowerment of families and the communities, improving labour technology and labour market information systems, institutional and technical capacity building and the enhancement of knowledge and data base on child labour.

Mrs Lalaina Razafindrakoto, Resource Person from ILO, said the project would benefit 3,050 children below the legal minimum age for employment and 450 children above the legal minimum age for employment while 1,000 households would benefits from employment opportunities, income generation and social protection services.

She said the focus would be on 10 communities per district, 250 households or families per district, 87 children per community, 25 households or families per community and between three and four children per household.

She stressed the importance of mainstreaming Child labour in the Cocoa agenda in all partnerships and expressed the hope that a detailed and sustainable plan would be developed for the district.

Mr Samuel Fleischer-Kwabi, District Chief Executive of Suhum-Kraboa-Coaltar pledged the District Assembly’s support towards the elimination of child labour.The ILO has embarked on similar workshops in Akyem Swedru in the Birim South District of the Eastern Region and is to replicate it in Twifo Hermang Lower Denkyira in the Central Region and Wassa Amenfi West in the Western Region.

Farmers asked to stop Child labourGhana News Agency28th July 2011

Assin Atobiase (W/R), July 28, GNA – Farmers in the country have been asked to stop using child labour on their farms since it negatively affect the wellbeing and development of children.

Mr Solomon Koomson, Jukwa District Officer of the Cocoa Swollen Shoot and Virus Disease Control Unit, who made the call, said investors were monitoring activities of cocoa farmers, and the produce of those who would use child labour on their farms would be boycotted. He was speaking

at a sensitization rally for farmers on the “Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour in Cocoa Growing Areas” at Wassa Atobiase, a cocoa growing community in the Western Region.




The event was organised under the National Programme for the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour in Cocoa Producing Areas, which was government’s response to child labour in Ghana’s cocoa sector.

The Cape Coast District Quality Control Officer of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Mr. Kwesi Bediako, said the Programme, which was started in 2006, sought to eliminate worst forms of child labour in the cocoa sector by the end of this year and in all sectors by 2015. He said despite measures by COCOBOD to stop child labour, the menace was on the ascendancy even though parents denied its prevalence.

Mr. Bediako advised the farmers to send their children to school instead of engaging them on the farms. He expressed worry that some children were trafficked and used for illegal activities such as prostitution and smuggling.Mr. Bediako warned people who engaged in child labour and child trafficking would be arrested and prosecuted.

The District Chief Farmer, Mr Kwabena Nkrumah, gave the assurance that farmers would support the campaign against child labour.

Ghana’s cocoa farmers get solar powered boreholesWritten by HMHJuly 28, 2011

Since the legendary Tetteh Quarshie brought cocoa seedlings to Ghana from the island of Fernando Po many decades ago, the country’s fortunes have improved tremendously and that single cash crop, often referred to as the golden pod, has roped in a lot of revenue.

It has also offered employment to tens of thousands of Ghanaians right from the farms through marketing agencies, Ghana’s Cocoa Marketing Board (COCOBOD), to the numerous factories that depend on the crop as raw material, right down to the wholesalers and retail outlets that sell the

products from cocoa.

Name the products that are made from cocoa; from husks to seeds to by-products, both edibles and non-edibles – chocolate, Milo, Chocolim,Bournvita, Ovaltine, Richoco and a host of others, as well as body creams such as cocoa butter and body lotions.

Unfortunately though, the cocoa farmers themselves, through whose toil the country has raked in so much revenue, have not yet felt the full benefits of their toil, apart from the systematic and steady increase in the producer price of the precious beans over the years and the award of scholarships and bursaries to wards of cocoa farmers.



Environmental Issue

Research & Development

Promotion & Consumption

Others


http://cocoa.commoditynewszone.net/2011/07/28/ghana%E2%80%99s-cocoa-farmers-get-solar-powered-boreholes/cocoa-market-news-commodity-news-zone-123/

But for Rachel Sakyibea, a volunteer cocoa farmer who hails from Oda Asene, it is not all lost and the prospects are now so bright that she does not hesitate to leave her community to live and work on a remote farm for two weeks or more, because one basic necessity of life – good clean drinking water, has been provided just close by.

“First we did not have water at all; we used to drink from a well but the water was not good. Now that we have water we can spend two weeks here,” she said with relish.

Rachel is one of several volunteer workers on a 170 hectare cocoa farm belonging to her church – the Saviour Church of Ghana, which uses the proceeds to fund its missionary activities while contributing to the economic growth of Ghana.

Potable water has been made accessible to the Saviour Church’s farmers and others in very remote cocoa growing communities, with the introduction and implementation of a project tailored with the cocoa farmer in mind.

The project, dubbed a Government of Ghana project for the provision of solar powered mechanised boreholes in cocoa growing areas which begun last year, involves the provision of 55 of such pumps to cocoa growing communities in the Eastern Region.

It is estimated that when the programme is completed it will serve 16,500 people in cocoa growing communities in about four districts of the region.

Divulging this during a tour by the Ghana Watsan Journalists Network (GWJN) of some water and sanitation facilities under the watch of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Mr. Theo Mensah, leader of CWSA, Eastern Region’s team, said funds from CMB were used to procure the pumps and accessories but could not provide the total cost of a unit or the entire project.

Components of the facility, which are designed with technology from India and parts from Germany, include a mechanised fitting, a solar panel and overhead polytank.

The team of journalists visited one of the beneficiary farms near Abakoase in the Atiwa District, about 15 minutes drive from the main highway and about 45 minutes drive from Koforidua, the regional capital, to have a firsthand experience of the project and how it is improving the lives of its beneficiaries.

For now, only two of the facilities have been installed but it is expected that 44 would have been completed by the end of September, 2011, as the boreholes in those locations have already been dug.

The week-long field trip, which will also take the team of GWJN members to the Volta Region today, July 27, 2011, is being supported by the Water Directorate of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, under its Improvement of Water Sector Performance Management Framework (IWSPMF) project.

Use only recommended pesticides on cocoa farmsGhana Business News28th July 2011

Ajumako Anyinasu (C/R) GNA - The Central Regional Cocoa Chief Farmer, Nana Kwesi Ofori, has advised cocoa farmers to strictly use the recommended pesticides on their farms to reap high quality cocoa beans. He said this would make the country maintain its position as the leading producer of quality cocoa on the world market.

Nana Ofori made the call at an educational programme on Increasing Cocoa Production for Cocoa Farmers at Ajumako Anyinasu on Tuesday. He appealed to them to avoid the use of

pesticides which have residual effects and are dangerous for human consumption or injurious to the cocoa tree.

The programme dubbed: “Cocoa Ghana, Ghana Cocoa; Farmers’ Contributions to Maintain its Quality Standard,” was organised jointly by the Office of the Central Regional Cocoa Chief Farmer and the Quality Control Company. He said the Cocoa Disease and Pest Control (CODAPEC) programme popularly known as the ‘Mass Spraying’ was introduced to assist cocoa farmers to combat the Capsid and the Black pod diseases.




Nana Ofori said the mass spraying exercise enabled the cocoa trees to yield more to produce good quality cocoa beans and this must be enjoyed by every cocoa farmer.

The Chief Farmer advised farmers in the area to form a task force which would distribute pesticides to the farmers directly. He said the spraying gangs would then go to the farmers at their farms to collect the pesticides to spray their farmers, adding that any farmer, whose farm was sprayed, would then have to sign or thumbprint a paper.

The Chief Farmer urged his compatriots to report to the district or society chief farmers the misconduct of any spraying gang member for the necessary action to be taken.

Nana Karikari Addo, Central Regional Quality Control Manager, said Cocoa harvest in Central Region increased from 46,954 tonnes in 2009/10 to 67,244 tonnes from 2010 October to May ending this year.

He said with the dramatic increase he hoped they would continue to follow the advice and teachings given them by the Cocoa Extension Officers to improve upon their performances and increase productivity.

Nana Addo appealed to the farmers to space and line-up their farms to ensure free movement of air, adding that this would make the cocoa tree yield higher.




Nana Essiam III, chief of Anyinasu, who chaired the programme, appealed to the government to rehabilitate the Bisease-Anyinasu Road to facilitate easy movement of foodstuffs and people.

The chief expressed regret that the road constructed more than 10 years ago had deteriorated, resulting in drivers plying the area charging exorbitant fares.




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COPAL COCOA Info. 450.doc · Web viewNEW YORK (ICE) FUTURES MARKET UPDATE FROM THE NEWS MEDIA tit bits Meeting of Head of Cocoa Research Institutes, 19th – 22nd July, 2011, COPAL