The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) has partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Walmart Foundation to support sustainable cocoa production in West Africa.
As part of the Cocoa Livelihoods Program, the partners will assist cocoa farmers in Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon on sustainable agricultural practices and farm management skills. The four countries produce over 70% of global cocoa supply.
The initiative will also provide resources to increase productivity in cocoa and food crops.
Farmers will be trained on accessing agricultural inputs such as fertilizer and planting materials, and will be provided financial tools to purchase cocoa inputs.
WCF president Bill Guyton said, "The private-private partnership model that we have built to support programs like these is helping to make a real difference in the lives of countless people where cocoa is grown."
Walmart Foundation senior director Julie Gehrki said, "This program is part of Walmart and the Walmart Foundation's commitment to support training for nearly 1 million small farmers in emerging markets, half of them being women, by the year 2015."
