President Yao Konan Honoré centre, with the secretary General Bienvenu Koffi Yao to his left and a member Marie Antoinette Kanga Adjoua to his right.
Coopan is a co-operative of 300 farmers in the far West of the Côte d’Ivoire. Nestlé began a partnership with them earlier this year, offering premium prices for good quality cocoa, and helping them nurture 20,000 new trees.
In the Côte d’Ivoire, cocoa normally goes through several middlemen resulting in the cocoa needing to be cleaned and dried for export at the port. By offering higher prices directly to the supplying co-op, the co-op assures the cocoa quality ultimately providing the farmers with a higher price.
By providing new trees Nestlé is also providing farmers with the potential not just to earn a higher price but to increase their production by replacing old unproductive trees.
Darrell High, Cocoa Manager at Nestlé S.A., said: “We're delighted to start this project with Coopan which will make a real difference to their communities by increasing farmers’ income and improving their trees.”
In 2010, 100,000 cocoa trees will be provided by Nestlé to co-operatives in Cote d’Ivoire.
