A local Ivorian tending to 3 week old seedlings that are already germinating into promising plantlets
Mr Jacques Lokou, 24 years old, is in charge of a nursery paid for by Nestlé in the north of the cocoa growing area of the Côte d'Ivoire. He lives with his cocoa farming brother in a village called Okoukouamekro, and is educated to baccalauréat level. He planted the seeds 3 weeks ago and the seeds are already germinating into promising plantlets. Maryse Methivier, Nestlé's Agronomist Manager said 'Mr Lokou has done an excellent job with the nursery. He's dedicated and enthusiastic about this project. It's the farmers in the co-operative who will benefit with more productive trees.'
This year Nestlé is paying for six nurseries like this in the Côte d'Ivoire, with plans to expand to accommodate one million plantlets per year by 2012.
