Cocoa doctors prevent world chocolate shortfall

All chocolate needs one vital ingredient of cocoa and a decade ago it was predicted by 2020 the world would have a shortfall of one million tonnes of cocoa a year. The International Fund for Agricultural Development of the United Nations (IFAD) and its partners in Indonesia set up a scheme to train local small estate farmers to become cocoa doctors to prevent this shortfall of cocoa. Ahmed Diarise, a cocoa farmer in Sulawesi, Indonesia learnt new techniques through the scheme from a global confectionary manufacturer which ensured his yields increased by 60% after his first year of training. The scheme helped improve the health of plants and the economic prospects for local farmers and now hundreds more cocoa producers have benefitted from training as cocoa doctors or passing on their knowledge to help other local farmers. PHOTO & VIDEO: IFAD

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