Côte d’Ivoire Cocoa farming in Africa

Where is it? The Côte d’Ivoire is located in Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia Its climate is tropical along coast, semiarid in far north; three seasons - warm and dry (November to March), hot and dry (March to May), hot and wet (June to October) Mostly flat to undulating plains; mountains in Northwest It has many natural resources including; petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, cobalt, bauxite, copper, hydropower most of the inhabitants live along the sandy coastal region; apart from the capital area, the forested interior is sparsely populated

Background information Cote d'Ivoire one of the most prosperous of the tropical African states. Falling cocoa prices and political turmoil, however, sparked an economic downturn in 1999 and On 25 December 1999, a military coup - the first ever in Cote d'Ivoire's history - overthrew the government led by President Henri Konan Presidential and legislative elections held in October and December 2000 provoked violence due to the exclusion of opposition leader Alassan In October 2001, President initiated a two-month-long National Reconciliation Forum, but its ability to conciliate Ivorians with one another remains unclear. In % (1.1million tones) was produced here.

How is this country farming? It is typically grown on land cleared by logging, it grows cocoa and this is a cash crop. It was grown fairly intensively for several years in one area before farmers moved on to newly opened upland Now there are no new areas to open up. This is leading to illegal cultivation of land in national parks

Is farming cocoa in this way sustainable? Lack of new land to grow cocoa Deceased crops Insect pests Ageing cocoa trees EnvironmentalEconomy Poor yields Poor income continued low prices of key exports, and post- coup instability Social Lack of money to buy amenities for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS

Lives of the people Despite government attempts to diversify the economy, it is still largely dependent on agriculture and related activities, which engage roughly 68% of the population PROSTAB project developed the edges of the forest, instead of the forest themselves and promote the use of leguminous trees and to improve soil fertility.

Feelings of the people The people involved in the PROSTAB project are giving the local people the chance for better farming techniques both environmentally and economically so the farmers will be happy to receive this sort of help and advice The women of the local area will be happier as the PROSTAB project is extending financial management systems down to individual houses, especially women. This allows women to become more involved with the local and helps to raise the level of equal opportunity.

Is this a sustainable project which cud lead to the development of rural areas in the Cote d’Ivoire? What is learnt from research in areas like Cameroon and groups like PROSTAB in Cote d’Ivoire on cocoa agroforestry, domestication of companion trees, intercropping, farm diversification, breeding for resistance, and biological control of disease may help other cocoa producing countries in West Africa. Cocoa can then become a truly sustainable tropical forest crop with advantages for the farmer, the environment and the consumer.