Humidtropics scientists participated in the First International Sustainable Fine Cocoa Production Congress in Managua, Nicaragua. The event, which included 250 participants from the public and private sectors, academic and research institutions, and farmer cooperatives and associations, was an exchange that generated inputs for Nicaragua’s National Cocoa Plan. This crop development strategy is being elaborated in alliance with farmers, cooperatives, commercialization businesses, and research and development actors at a national level, as a response to the growing demand for cocoa in … [Read more...]
Bridging the Hunger Gap with Improved Leafy Vegetables in Cameroon’s Smallholder Cocoa Farms
Cameroon is one of the world’s largest producers of cocoa; 209,905 tons of cocoa beans were produced in 2014. Cocoa is the main cash crop of the Centre region of Cameroon and one of the main export commodities of the country. However, unstable international cocoa prices coupled with weather variability have increased food insecurity and malnourishment among cocoa farmers. Furthermore, even when cocoa prices reached high peaks in international markets, smallholder farmers received only 3.5 to 6.4 % of the final value of the chocolate bar. With highly volatile cocoa prices and … [Read more...]
Promoting Territorial Integration in Nicaragua – National R4D Platform
Seeking to strengthen collaboration with Nicaragua’s National Research for Development (R4D) Platform, Humidtropics conducted a National R4D Platform Meeting on March 4, 2016 in Managua, Nicaragua. Platform members who participated in the event were part of 37 organizations that represent the country’s coffee, cocoa, and mixed staple crop-livestock production sectors, academic and research institutions, public sector, civil society, and farmer associations. The session was an opportunity to learn and reflect about the achievements of the R4D projects implemented in the Nicanorte Action … [Read more...]