Cameroonian cocoa is on top of the world. On June 14, 2023, the country was admitted to the list of ” Producers of aromatic fine cocoa by the International Cocoa Organization. It was during the work of the panel of experts on fine cocoa, held in Antanarivo, Madagascar, on June 13 and 14, 2023. The information was revealed during a government communication on June 23 in Yaoundé , in which took part the Ministers of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, and of Agriculture and Rural Development, Gabriel Mbairobe. This distinction, for sure, will have a positive impact on the price of the kilogram of cocoa, currently sold between 1,280 between 1,375 FCFA in Douala and 1,650 FCFA in the centers of excellence.
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Far from being a coincidence, clarified the Mincommerce, ” this international recognition obtained by Cameroon is the result of hard and collective work carried out on the ground over the past 10 years “. By installing the new officials at the head of the executive secretariat of the Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Council (Cicc), on April 12, 2012, the Mincommerce had instructed them to restore the image of Cameroonian cocoa which had, at that time, lost its coast. in the international market. Thus, we learn, initiatives had been undertaken jointly by the public authorities and the umbrella organizations of the cocoa and coffee sectors, in particular the Cicc.
This is the certification initiated since 2012 under the leadership of Minader; the popularization of good practices –which has allowed the abandonment of the drying of cocoa on bitumen, among other things-; the rejuvenation of the production force with the establishment of the New Generation program by the Cicc; the professionalization of producers – launched in 2014 in Monatele in the department of Lekié – it aims to structure producers; the identification of growers and the geolocation of their plantations and the production of cocoa of excellence, without deforestation, it is said for the latter case.
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For clarification, as of June 14, 2023, the list of “ Producers of aromatic fine cocoa » has only 19 countries out of a total of more than 60 cocoa-producing states in the world. Like Cameroon, Ghana also entered the circle of ” Producers of aromatic fine cocoa which, until then, was reserved outside Madagascar and Soa Tomé and Principe in Africa, for South American countries. This recognition comes a few weeks after the holding in Yaoundé from June 6 to 8 of an international scientific conference, national and international experts and researchers on adaptation to climate change in the cocoa and coffee sectors.
Source: Current Challenges n°779 of Monday June 26 to 28, 2023
