Cameroon will soon embrace cocoa certification to improve competition for the cash crop in the world market.
The Akwa-Douala training of October 24-26, 2011 was a follow up to an international workshop on the outcomes of the pilot project on cocoa price risk management and the implications for future risk management activities. It was organised by the Common Fund for Commodities and the International Cocoa Organisation in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire in May 2010.
The main objective of the workshop was firstly to sensitise smallholder cocoa farmers from cooperatives in the country on price risk management that has been tried out in Cote d’Ivoire between 2006 and 2008. It was also about encouraging cocoa producers to implement the scope and modalities of the initiative in Cameroon through a regional project involving Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria.
The rationale of this initiative is that market-based price insurance schemes are one of the policy options available to cope with the volatility of cocoa prices by better securing farmers’ revenues and facilitating relevant investment decisions by cocoa producers. The training for the close to twenty participants was facilitated by representatives of the World Cocoa Foundation during a three-day workshop organised on the theme, “Cocoa price risk management.” The Cameroon National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB) was also involved in the organisation of the workshop.
Martina Ebenki, a farmer representative of the Muyuka Area Cooperative Union in the South West Region said she learned the various factors that cause price fluctuation in the world market such as insufficient supply, certification, and group action like in Ghana where producers are united and committed. Azek Zachee Ojong of Konye Area Farmers’ Cooperative Society in the South West Region regretted that until now, they could not earn enough for their produce. He said they are looking forward to Cameroon cocoa being certified so that it can compete favourably in European markets and offer optimal benefits to farmers.
