The German government, through the GIZ, and local non-governmental organization Cocoa Foundation of the Philippines Inc. (CocoaPhil) will sign an agreement to increase the income of cocoa farmers in Western Visayas via sustainable cacao production.
GIZ said in a statement that the sustainable cacao production initiative will be implemented under its Forest and Climate Protection in Panay (ForClim II) project.
ForClim II project principal advisor Dr. Klaus Schmitt and CocoaPhil President Edward F. David will sign the agreement on April 19 in Quezon City.
The GIZ project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), assists marginal farmers in protecting and rehabilitating degraded forest lands and their buffer zones.
The initiative between the German Project and CocoaPhil will promote the sustainable production, management and marketing of cocoa to contribute and improve the socioeconomic conditions of upland farmers.
The German project will ensure coordination of activities with relevant authorities, provide technical and financial assistance to cocoa farmers and participate in monitoring of project success.
CocoaPhil will provide technical expertise and know-how in cacao planting, management, value adding and processing. It will provide training, make planting material available at cost, help link cacao farmers to marketing partners and purchase produced fermented or dried cacao beans that meet quality standards, at prevailing market prices.
The CocoaPhil-proposed cocoa development program would generate on-farm and off-farm employment through the processing of locally sourced cacao beans by the domestic grinding and chocolate manufacturing sector.
GIZ said income could be derived out of added value for organically-grown cacao beans or the processing of cacao nibs into tableas and other delicacies.
Experts predict a 1 million metric ton (MMT) shortage of cocoa globally by 2020.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) aims to raise local production of dried cocoa beans to 100,000 metric tons (MT) by 2020 from the current 12,000 MT. Current production is not even enough to satisfy the local demand of 30,000 MT per year.
CocoaPhil seeks to revive the flagging Philippine cocoa industry. It supports the DA’s Sustainable Cacao Project by addressing the shortage of cacao in the Philippines and the world through trainings, consulting services and provision of planting materials.