Serigne Diop (on right), head of R+D Abidjan and Yo Tiémoko Managing Director of CNRA.
On the 23rd October 2009 Nestlé and CNRA, the Ivorian National Centre for Plant Science Research, signed a frame agreement for cooperation in plant science and propagation, with a target of producing 1 million high quality, disease resistant cocoa plantlets a year by 2012. Yo Tiémoko Managing Director of CNRA said 'It is a renewable 2 year collaboration to produce high quality varieties of trees developed by CNRA'. Pierre Broun, head of Nestlé's R+D centre in Tours said it would help revive the cocoa sector in the Cote d'Ivoire. 'We want to give our support for the cocoa sector of the Cote d'Ivoire by improving the profitability and the quality of the cocoa. Farmers will be able to improve output to 1.2 tonnes per hectare compared with 400kg at the moment' commented Pierre Broun. For his part, the Minister for higher education and the scientific research, Cissé Bacongo, welcomed this partnership as it will make it possible to answer the challenge of a sustainable cocoa sector in the Cote d'Ivoire.
