CropLife Côte d’Ivoire and the German Technical Cooperation (GIZ) started a beneficial collaboration to train cocoa farmers on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and the responsible use of pesticides. The activities are part of the Cocoa Livelihoods Program that aims to improve the incomes of smallholder cocoa farmers in West Africa, ensuring the sustainability of their farms and livelihoods.
In July 2011, CropLife Côte d’Ivoire and GIZ signed a Memorandum of Understanding about the training programme, followed by the opening of two Business Services Centers (BSCs) in Daloa and Abengourou in November and December 2011. The BSCs provide useful information and training on good agricultural practices, crop protection technologies, market information systems, access to funding, post-harvest technologies and certification processes. The centers will support the collective purchase of agricultural inputs, sales of produce and access to markets.
CropLife Côte d’Ivoire will conduct training for farmers and participating retailers on IPM and the responsible use of pesticides. In addition, its staff will teach participants about the importance of using quality and registered pesticides as well as the risks associated with counterfeit and illegal pesticides.
At a one-day program in June 2012, 40 trainers from the National Agency for Rural Development (ANADER) learned about IPM, responsible pesticide use and the benefits of quality-registered pesticides on cocoa beans along with related skills and tools to improve yields and farmer incomes. These trainers are contracted by GIZ to assist growers through farmer business schools. The trainers are linked to field officers with CropLife Côte d’Ivoire member companies and can contact them if questions arise in the field. More training programmes are planned for 2013.