What research do we need to achieve profitable and sustainable cocoa production in in Asia-Pacific by 2050?

Cocoa production in the Asia-Pacific region has experienced periodic boom and bust cycles clearly illustrated by experiences in Malaysia and Indonesia. Understanding the reasons behind these cycles gives us insights into the research required to develop profitable and sustainable cocoa production. Like other growing regions cocoa production is dominated by smallholder farming families but the cultural attachment to cocoa farming is less significant, farmers are relatively agile businesspeople and cocoa serves as a “fortress crop” in flexible livelihood strategies. Cocoa farming must be profitable and this a key to understanding production cycles. Profitability is determined by the intersection of global prices, Government policies, the productivity of cocoa genotypes and agronomic systems, soil fertility, pests and disease pressure, environmental sustainability, the availability of appropriate technology, labour, finance and gender equity. Multiple farming systems are possible, but research must be relevant to the needs of producers rather than manufacturers and consumers.

While the Pacific cocoa industry is small, it is locally significant and a source of fine-flavour beans.

Bio: David Guest is the Professor of Plant Pathology in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at The University of Sydney. He teaches undergraduate courses at all levels and has supervised over 40 PhD and Research Masters students. His current research focusses on the constraints faced by smallholder farmers in tropical horticulture that limit adoption of improved crop management and improved livelihoods. He has extensive partnerships with research institutes and farming communities around the Asia-Pacific region, serves on the Sydney Institute of Agriculture, Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, Scientists Australia for Gender Equity, MBI, the Sydney Vietnam Initiative, the MARS Chocolate Research Advisory Board and is an Honorary Associate of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. He is Past-President and Fellow of the Australasian Plant Pathology Society and Past President of the Asian Association of Societies of Plant Pathology. He is a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and was awarded a Career Medal for Agriculture and Rural Development by the Government of Vietnam.

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INGENIC Asia- Pacific Cocoa Breeding Achievements and Way Forward

Elain Apshara, Haya Ramba, Nuraziawati, Romulo Cena, Sheena Lucena Agung Susilo, Indah Anita Sari, Pham Hong Duc Phuoc, Peter Epaina, Jeffrie Marfu and Smilja Lambert

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) cultivable systems in Asia- Pacific region, comprising Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Philippines, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea have the same pest and disease problems. The most important of these are Phytophthora pod rot (PPR), vascular streak dieback (VSD), cocoa pod borer (CPB), tea mosquito bug (TMB- Helopeltis sp.) with drought (DT) linked with climate change being the most important abiotic stress. Research activities of national breeding programs with common strategies of collection, conservation and evaluation of germplasm, screening, resistance breeding, development of elite clones/ hybrids with positive traits, quality planting material production etc. complemented the proposed regional breeding program. And so the major objective for the region is set to breed clones that are high yielding, with good quality beans, in presence of PPR/VSD/CPB/TMB/DT, which will provide great opportunity for a sustainable cocoa sector in the region as well as for international trade and global market.

Starting from the first regional meeting held in 2004 in Singapore, followed by INGENIC Asia-Pacific working group in 2008, the regional cocoa breeding activities were intensified by evaluating available germplasm by each participating country for best quantitative, qualitative and resistance traits. The best parental clones from each origin were selected for favourable crosses, the best three hybrids were produced by each country and in total 15 crosses were exchanged between all countries for further evaluation as progeny/ clonal trials with at least 100- 200 plants. This multi country evaluation trial was constituted with hybrids of Indonesia DRC 15 x KW 264, KW 30 x DRC 15, ARDACIAR 10 x KW 422, Malaysia MCB C3 x KKM 22, PBC 123 x LAFI 7, QH 22 x NA33, India VTLC 8 x VTLC 19, VTLCH 3, VTLCH 4, Philippines BR 25 x K2, BR 25 x S5, PNG NAB 11 x KEE 42, KEE 43 x K72-124, Mocorongo x K 4 and Vietnam clones TD 17, 19, 35, 36, 62, 64. Later, 44 clones from collaborating countries were also established at Sulawesi in one location. A few challenges were encountered due to legal requirements for exchange, transportation delays, low germination and funding problems. Currently, field trials are continuing with agreed protocols and procedures. This program enabled the sharing of the best cocoa genes in the region, standardising common data recording, exchange of information, and selecting country specific best performing hybrids and clones, as well as, region specific hybrids and best clones to be utilized commercially in future.

With coordination and funding support by Mars, breeders met regularly combining with other international cocoa events and shared the achievements in cocoa breeding in each country. This also provided an opportunity to share performance data of evaluation trials on exchanged hybrids, discuss the strategies to overcome the threats from climate change perspectives and following common methodologies in pest and disease screening and resistance breeding.

The direction of cocoa breeding in the Asia Pacific region to anticipate problems in 2050 will be on:
(a) Development of drought tolerant hybrids to tackle climate change effects along with the initiation of a few water-logging and salinity tolerance studies;
(b) Continuous surveillance, screening, breeding on established (PPR/VSD/CPB) and emerging (TMB/DT) problems;
(c) High yielding varieties with tolerance to specific pest/ disease;
(d) Root stock breeding for various biotic and abiotic stress;
(e) Molecular approaches and gene expression studies for major diseases;
(f) Qualitative improvement utilizing Criollos and Trinitarios rich in flavour components, for development of single origin single farm chocolates to attract more consumers;
(g) Exploring new crosses with upper and lower amazon clones (shade tolerance);
(h) Possibility of depositing elite clones/ hybrids from Asia Pacific countries to Intermediate Quarantine Centre, University of Reading to enable wider exchange for specific purposes.

Bio: Elain Apshara is the Principal Scientist in Horticulture- Fruits and Plantation Crops at the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), India. She has 20 years of experience working on cocoa research including the following aspects:
(a) Genetic resource management- collection, conservation, cataloguing, characterization and evaluation of cocoa germplasm;
(b) Cocoa breeding- development of varieties for high yield, bean size, quality and tolerant to biotic (black pod rot, tea mosquito bug) and abiotic (drought) stress;
(c) Multi location trial of cocoa clones and hybrids in palm based cropping systems under arecanut, coconut and oil palm gardens in different agro climatic regions of India;
(d) Quality planting material production in cocoa;
(e) Supporting cocoa developmental activities of Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt of India;
(f) Elain has been part of the INGENIC- Asia Pacific group from 2012 onwards, thanks to support from Mars.

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Identifying VSD resistance genes in cocoa

Gurpreet Singh, Robert Park, David Guest

Vascular Streak Dieback (VSD) disease of cacao, caused by the fungus Ceratobasidium theobromae, has devastating impacts on cacao production in southeast Asia and Oceania. The study aimed to identify genetic regions associated with resistance to VSD using a population derived from a cross between the cocoa genotypes S1 (VSD resistant) and CCN51 (susceptible). QTL analysis was performed using a genetic linkage map constructed with 8,000 DArT markers and 2000 SNP markers. Two QTLs were detected on linkage group 8 and linkage group 9. The QTL on linkage group 8 explained 15- 16% of the phenotypic variation while the QTL on linkage group 9 explained 16-18% of the phenotypic variation. These QTLs were co-located with QTLs previously identified by Epaina (2014) for VSD and Phytophthora pod rot in Papua New Guinea.

Bio: Gurpreet Singh is a PhD student at the University of Sydney working with Professor David Guest and Professor Robert Park. His PhD focuses on 'Understanding the genomic basis of resistance in cacao against Vascular Streak Dieback disease'. Previously he has graduated with a Master in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics at La Trobe University, Melbourne. Gurpreet research interests are in plant pathology and plant defence mechanisms.

Problems of cocoa soils in Asia Pacific by 2050

Soil health is important in ensuring that it can function as a vital living system for sustainable biological productivity, promoting the quality of air and water environment as well as to maintain plant, animal and human health. Sustainable soil management requires balancing the needs for human purposes with those for environmental conservation and functioning. The United Nation reported that a third of the fertility of the earth is being acutely degraded due to intensive farming as global demand for food grows. Cocoa producer countries in Asia Pacific region such as Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, The Philippines and Laos are facing land degradation which is caused by excessive pressure on the land to meet the demand. Forecasting cocoa yields by 2050 shows that the average cocoa yield in the producing countries could be a little above 0.4 tonnes/ha, but still below the potential yield (3 -5 tonnes/ha). There are many factors that contribute to cocoa productivity, but one of the major factors is land degradation. The cause of land degradation can be from direct or indirect human interventions like deforestation and removal of natural vegetation and agriculture related activities. All these activities lead to emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, soil erosion, soil compaction, nutrient imbalance, water pollution, acidification, water logging, loss of soil biodiversity, loss of soil organic carbon and increasing of soil salinity. Countries in Asia Pacific region are also likely to be highly exposed to extreme climate change by 2050 which indirectly affect soil fertility and crop nutrition.

Keywords: soil health, cocoa soils, land degradation, climate change

Bio: More than 15 years of experience in cocoa research at Malaysian Cocoa Board especially in crop production including soil fertility, effect of climate change on plant growth and plant production and plant physiology. Her research findings have been published in many scientific journals and presented in scientific conferences in Malaysia and abroad, i.e. International Conference in Plant Physiology, Malaysian International Cocoa Conference, Asia Pacific Regional Cocoa Workshop and International Agriculture Congress. She has also contributed at the national level to preparing the Second and Third National Communication reports to the UNFCCC on the climate change, acted as an Evaluator of R & D & C Fund Application for Ministry of Science and Technology (MOSTI) Malaysia, and is a member of the agriculture expert group to address climate change under MOSTI, the working groups to review of Malaysian Standard for Cocoa Bean Specification and Cocoa Planting Materials.

The potency and constraints of Asia Pacific to produce high quality cocoa

Asia Pacific is contributing approximately 6.18% of world cocoa production, mainly from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Despite its minor proportion, Asia Pacific demonstrates its potential to produce high-quality cocoa, through a consistent participation in the Cocoa of Excellence program and inclusion in the list of top 50 producers. However, the pathway for the region to become a high-quality cocoa producer faces several challenges. This includes post-harvest practices, climatic variations as well as awareness of quality requirements and market prospects. In addition, cocoa producers should also maintain their service towards existing buyers that demand cocoa butter. This presentation discusses how the strategies could enhance the production of high-quality cocoa in Asia Pacific, including establishment of post-harvest handling procedures and internal quality control as well as improvement of access to market.

Bio: Ariza Budi Tunjung Sari is a researcher at Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute (ICCRI) since 2009. She was awarded with a bachelor degree in agroindustrial technology from IPB University and a master in chemistry from Airlangga University. In 2017-2018, she has received a training on cocoa sensory evaluation from Ed Seguine (chairman of technical committee of Cocoa of Excellence, and chairman of fine flavor cocoa panel of ICCO) and John Kehoe (Director of Sustainability of Guittard Chocolate Company). Her research interests are in sensory and nutritional value of cocoa.

Leveraging existing gender relations to optimize the gains from value-adding opportunities: the case of cacao value chain in Davao City

Dr. Lapitan, Aileen V., Director, Center for Strategic Planning and Policy Studies, College of Public Affairs and Development, University of the Philippines Los Baños
Mitchiko Lopez
Ms. Aranas, Mia Barabara D., Senior Science Research Specialist, DOST – PCAARRD
Ms. Faylon, Ma Rassel P., Assistant Country Manager, ACIAR (Philippines)
Dr. Anastacio, Nico Jayson C., University Researcher, Center for Strategic Planning and Policy Studies, College of Public Affairs and Development, University of the Philippines Los Baños
Dr. Predo, Canesio D., Associate Professor, University of the Philippines Los Baños

Gender lens, while integral in development, has yet to be explicitly embedded in the design of high-value commodity value chain development initiatives. This paper aims to fill the gap through the development of a co-design approach applied in the cacao industry of Davao City, Philippines. Davao City is dubbed as the country’s 'Chocolate Capital' and Region XI as the 'Cacao Capital of the Philippines', respectively in RA 115471. Limited attention to the gender dimensions of the cacao value chain can lead to interventions that are gender blind or not gender responsive, dampening potentials for growth and inclusive development. When a significant group’s ability to contribute toward growth is undermined, high value commodity sectors like cacao can miss out on the gains achieved from even a well-intentioned value chain development. For a local industry involving 8,558 cocoa farmers, over five thousand hectares of physical area, and production of 0.87 MT/ha of yield, (Davao City Agriculture Office, 2018), the stakes are high enough to merit exploration of a gender responsive, co-designed approach to value chain development.

Utilizing gender lens, data collection will involve extensive literature review of cacao industry state-of-the-art, series of focus group discussions and key informant interviews among stakeholders of the local cacao industry, and an online survey of value chain downstream actors (consumers). The activities aim to establish gender relations, as well as the facilitating factors and barriers to a gender responsive cacao value chain. This project is deemed to contribute to knowledge and practice pertaining to value chain development of high value agricultural commodities. While it focuses on the case of the local cacao industry in Davao City, it can also provide valuable insights into the application of co-design approach for inclusive value chain development efforts for other commodities in other parts of the country.

Keywords: gender, cacao, co-design, development interventions, value chain development

Bio: Mitchiko has a background in public administration, urban and regional planning, and development studies, wherein she is a PhD Candidate for the latter. Her dissertation is on mainstreaming gender in cacao agricultural value chain of Davao City, Philippines. She has presented papers in various academic conferences on cacao’s gender dimension as part of her dissertation.

She has been a Nuffic Fellow in 2016 and 2020, respectively. Under this fellowship, her work has focused on market access for food security and gender governance courses. At present, Ms. Lopez is among the 2021 John Dillon Fellows – Philippine Cohort working on a project related to gender in cacao of Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines.

She has worked with the University of the Philippines Mindanao since 2000. She is passionate in exploring further her interest in gender in agricultural value chains, where children and youth are embedded.

Agroforestry and Pollination - Opportunities for Cocoa Production Globally

Cocoa production is globally impacted by climate change. In this presentation, I talk about the role of cocoa agroforestry systems as climate resilient systems and cocoa pollination to minimize the yield gap in cocoa agroforestry systems. I also introduce the Global Agroforestry Network (Global Agroforestry Network), a recent initiative to address applied ecological research questions in cocoa, coffee, and rubber agroforestry systems. I will talk about our global pollination project, our effort to map cocoa and coffee agroforestry systems globally and end with a call for collaboration.

Bio: Thomas Cherico Wanger is an Associate Professor at Westlake University in China and Principal Investigator of the ‘Sustainability, Agriculture, and Technology’ laboratory. He works with his team on agroecology and agricultural technology and has established large-scale research platforms including the Global Agroforestry Network.

Tom received his PhD in Environmental Sciences from the University of Adelaide, Australia in 2011 and did his postdoc at Stanford University, the Swedish Agricultural University, and the University of Göttingen in Germany. Tom has received multiple awards for scientific excellence, his work has been cited nearly 7,000 times, and he has published more than 50 papers in leading journals including Science and Nature.

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Bio: Richard Asare joined IITA in 2006 as the Regional Cocoa Agroforester as part of the Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP) in Ghana, after working as a consultant for the World Cocoa Foundation (WFC) and Danish forestry institutions. His in-depth knowledge on integrated tree crops systems coupled with his practical field experience in tree management on farmlands strengthens his expertise on sustainable agricultural land-use practice.

For the past eleven years he has been involved in research studies across East, West, and Central Africa looking into agroforestry tree seed distribution pathways and researching on forest trees that are preferred by farmers and recommended by researchers as compatible with cocoa. He has worked closely and trained stakeholders in tree crops farming in the humid tropics of Africa, particularly Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria to develop a comprehensive framework that packages tree diversification options on cocoa farms in a way that improves, encourages, and promotes local knowledge according to environmental conditions, farmer tree species preferences, market demands, and improved planting material availability. This work culminated into his PhD research which focuses on the resilience of cocoa agroforests to impacts of climate change: looking at the relationships between on-farm shade diversity, climate variables, and cocoa production. This is a collaboration between Copenhagen University and IITA.

He has a B.Sc. in Agricultural Science (soil science) and a diploma in education from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. He also holds an M.Sc. in Agronomy/Land-use in Developing Countries from Copenhagen University (KVL) and a certificate in project management from Carl Bro International Denmark.

Cocoa Production and Impact on Land Use and Deforestation in the Ntui area-Cameroon

This study aims at understanding how cocoa farming drives deforestation; the motives of farmers to clear forests; practice cocoa agroforestry and reforestation in the Ntui area. To achieve this aim, 25 interviews were carried out using an interview guide; 84 semi structured questionnaires distributed, and 8 focused group discussions were held.

The results show that some of the key enablers of deforestation from cocoa farming were: the presence of timber roads into new unfarmed lands, increased family sizes, natural desire to own more land, the need for food crops, degraded lands/low fertility, lack of access to reliable and constant GAP practices/training, low and fluctuating cocoa prices.

From the results it was recommended that: Conservation measures should target the promotion of GAPs on currently used land so as to ensure farmers get a good return for their current farmlands and reduce the tendency to exploit natural forests for farms.

As part of their corporate social responsibility, cocoa dealers should be obliged to demonstrate proof of support to nature protection, forest conservation and environmental sustainability investments within agreed cycles.

Keywords: Cocoa production, Deforestation, Agroforestry, Ntui area-Cameroon

Bio: Akenji Victorine Neh is a Research Environmentalist at the South West Regional Delegation of Scientific Research and Innovation, MINRESI. Since July 2020, Victorine has been conducting two research projects with Wageningen University: Cocoa production and its impact on land use deforestation in the Ntui area, Centre region, Cameroon and Assessment of environmental and Social Impacts of agribusiness developments in Cameroon. She is currently completing her thesis on the Assessment of groundwater pollution by agrochemicals on the lower flanks of Mt. Cameroon, a conclusion of her Doctorate Programme in Natural Resources and Environmental Management at the University of Buea.

Unraveling drivers of high variability of on-farm cocoa yields across environmental gradients in Ghana

Screening shade tree/agroforestry tree species for their potential to act as alternative hosts to CSSV in Côte d’Ivoire

Can cocoa farmers live from air?

Jack Steijn will share his ideas on how the marketable products of agroforestry, including carbon sequestration, can be an important component of a diversified cocoa farm production package.

Bio: Jack Steijn is co-founder of Equipoise, business consultant for sustainable cocoa supply chains and chair of the ISO and CEN Committees on Sustainable and Traceable Cocoa. Jack has worked on projects such as Cocoa Origins with IDH and the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, sustainable cocoa logistics with the Port of Amsterdam and the port of San Pédro in Côte d’Ivoire, the assessment of potential cocoa exporters from Liberia with CBI, awareness raising seminars for sustainable supply chains with UNIDO in Sierra Leone and with other partners in Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ghana, Guinea and Peru. He has also contributed to cocoa strategy developments in Liberia, Madagascar and in Cameroon.

Equipoise supports market related sustainability projects, promotes diversification, climate adaption and markets access for sustainable commodities, develops export training programs and is the organiser of Chocoa, the world’s largest annual event fully dedicated to sustainable cocoa and chocolate.

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A healthy outlook for cocoa: innovation in marketing and business models for cocoa producers

Lisi Montoya, a pioneer of the craft chocolate movement, will share her experiences of working with cocoa farmers in Latin America to produce premium chocolate products and her thoughts on how new products and marketing strategies can contribute to ensuring sustainable cocoa production.

Bio: A pioneer of the craft chocolate movement in Peru since 2009, Lisi Montoya is a leader of her country’s fine chocolate industry. She owns and runs a small chocolate factory in a hidden corner of historic Pachacamac, an ancient Inca site by the Lurín river, south of Lima. A model of efficient and Spartan planning, the factory, operated by Lisi and a small group of local women trained by her, produces a broad range of products made from fine cacao for national consumption and for export to more than a dozen countries around the world, from the US to Taiwan.

Since 2010, Lisi has been working directly with regional farmers in designing the proper post-harvest protocols for heirloom cacao for which she pays a premium. Shattell Chocolate Chuncho 70% cacao won a Gold and was named Best in Competition in the 2017 International Chocolate Awards World Final. Lisi is the first Latin American woman to have garnered such distinction.

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Recent lessons learned from innovative farming systems in cocoa.

Philippe Bastide will outline present his ideas on how innovation in cocoa production systems can contribute to profitable, and sustainable, cocoa farming. He will give an overview of the current situation in terms of agronomic models, limitations and constraints in terms of general knowledge and gaps in Research. Following on from this, he will consider new models and approaches to gaining better yields and better growing systems, with agroforestry systems and climate change in mind and taking account developments in the cacao world.

Bio: Dr Philippe Bastide is an independent consultant and CEO of Cacao Consultant Company. He started his career on cocoa in 1983 with a PhD from the University of Montpellier. He worked 35 years for Cirad and spent 15 years of that time working in several cocoa producing countries. As a researcher, he implemented projects in agro-physiology focusing on developing methods and practical tools to increase productivity and profitability. He also carried out research to reduce yield gaps for farmers in cocoa-based systems, including agroforestry systems, in the context of climate change. His activities included the production of planting material and improvement of post-harvest processes. He managed research teams and developed technical support for farmers, technical staff and investors to help them improve farm management, including ways to improve quality and added value of cocoa products. As a cacao expert, he has visited 32 producing countries, trained numerous students and participated as a speaker in many conferences. Over the last six years, he has been working on cocoa farms in many different countries with partners who want to implement innovative ways to grow cocoa trees and preserve the natural resources.

Bio: Prof. Path Umaharan is Director of the Cocoa Research Centre (CRC) at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. He is responsible for policy, strategic direction and governance of the CRC, in addition to curation of the International Cocoa Genebank, Trinidad (ICG,T) and outreach. Path Professor Umaharan is an expert in plant genetic resources management, genetic analysis and crop improvement and has worked on a number of tropical crops in addition to cocoa. His current cocoa research interests are centered around understanding host-pathogen interactions and genetics of resistance, genetic resource management, biotechnology and biosafety. Professor Umaharan has over 100 referred publications on cocoa and other tropical crops and serves on many national, regional and international committees.

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Improving cocoa quality using sustainable practices for enhance flavours and more healthy chocolates

Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is an accumulator of cadmium (Cd), a toxic heavy metal that can accumulate in plants and be stored in their edible parts. Beans from Latin America and the Caribbean have elevated Cd due to high Cd soils, and are a source for Cd entering the food chain which is an important food safety issue. Regulatory agencies have implemented maximum allowable limits for Cd in cocoa based products in Europe. Exploiting genetic differences for Cd uptake between cacao varieties is one of several solutions for mitigating Cd accumulation. Also, the quality and flavour of cocoa beans are important for the value of chocolate. Several factors influence quality and flavour, however bean fermentation is one of the critical steps. Fermentations are typically performed at the farm level and the natural microbiota from the surrounding environment, contribute to the creation of unique local flavours. Better understanding the processes involved and elucidating microbial community dynamics can lead to better quality beans with enhanced flavours and nutritional benefits while using sustainable agricultural practices. This would ultimately result in better chocolates for consumers which is especially important for smallholder farmers gravitating towards producing single origin premium chocolate.

Bio: David Gopaulchan has a PhD in Biochemistry with expertise in genetics, genomics, molecular and cellular biology, and is a postdoctoral researcher at The Future Food Beacon, The University of Nottingham. His research is focused on studying genetic diversity of cacao populations towards conservation, understanding sequestration of cadmium in cacao towards mitigation and controlling microbial communities involved in cocoa fermentation to improve quality and flavour. His interest also spans exploiting natural cacao variation to improve cacao yields, developing resilience varieties and using more sustainable agriculture production systems.

Research advances in cocoa diseases and perspectives to its management in Colombia and the LAC region

By 2020, Colombian cocoa production was around 63 thousand tons of dry cocoa beans. However, diseases caused by species of the genus Moniliophthora and Phytophthora are the cause of the low cocoa yields. A management scheme for diseases in the region Montaña Santandereana has been defined based on the life cycle of these pathogens, the rainfall periods, flowering peaks, and relative humidity. However, due to the large amount of labor required for these management schemes, alternative management methods are urgently required. Research towards this has included the evaluation of different pesticides for their potential use on cocoa. For conventional agriculture, active ingredients with eradicating and protecting action could be used with spray frequencies between 3 to 4 weeks. However, a combination of different management practices are required to achieve adequate production levels, and this will depend on the environmental conditions and the cocoa planting material. Selection of appropriate planting materials for each production zone is needed to take into account the genetic variability of the main pathogens, particularly M. roreri, with the breeding programmes aimed at the identification and inclusion of different sources of resistance with variable mechanisms.

Bio: Dr Yeirme Yaneth Jaimes Suárez is Microbiologist from the University of Pamplona. She has a master’s degree in Applied Biology and PhD in Agronomy-Plant Protection from the Military University of New Granada in Colombia and the São Paulo State University in Brazil. She has experience as professor of Biotechnology, Bioprocesses and Phytopathology. Since 2008, Yierme has been working as a researcher in the Colombian Corporation of Agricultural Research – Agrosavia. Her cocoa research has mainly focused on the design of integrated management schemes of Moniliophthora roreri and M. perniciosa, though she has also studied the population biology of these and other cocoa pathogens.

Understanding soil and plant relationship to boost sustainable cacao yields

Trends in cacao-based agroforestry research in Central America

Research and experimentation are the foundation stones for decision making in sustainable rural development. In Central America cacao is grown mainly under agroforestry systems which provide a wide range of tree traits and canopy features to tackle some the main challenges facing a sustainable cocoa production model: a) deforestation, b) child labor, c) fair price, d) cadmium regulations and f) climate change. Research and experimentation in Central America in lead by a few research’ actors and is not as productive as needed. The absence of a national research agenda, the lack of research funds, a modest collaboration among national actors, a limited access to equipment and technology, and minimal interaction with private actors are jeopardizing the generation of knowledge and dissemination of research outputs. Currently, the research agenda is still focused on the selection and evaluation of elite trees, the description of best agronomic practices and the assessment of bean quality and sensorial profiles. Significant advances were done regarding land suitability and climate change for cocoa cultivation, the development of Apps to supports farmers decision making and fingerprinting. However, little attention is given to a) the development of protocols for integrated management of diseases (i.e., moniliasis), b) fertilization regimes to improve yields, c) growth performance of shade trees and d) the evaluation of climate-tolerant clones/varieties. The MOCCA project mainstreaming applied which includes a) assessing the production and technical knowledge planting material providers, b) mapping cadmium across the region, c) elucidating the enabling and limiting condition driving tree cover chance in cocoa production landscapes and d) documenting the effects of renovation/rehabilitation of aging farms con cocoa yields. More research is needed to assess the best tree archetypes for shaded cacao plots along a gradient of growing conditions and to better understand the physiological performance of shaded cocoa. Fostering both national and international collaboration and knowledge sharing is key to enrich the research/experimentation agenda and to better support the decision making and planning of cocoa boards regionwide.

Bio: Luis Orozco Aguilar, current Deputy Director for Research and Innovation for the MOCCA-Project, has a PhD in Forest and Ecosystem Sciences from the University of Melbourne, Australia. Luis is a dynamic researcher and practitioner of tropical agroforestry with perennial crops (cacao and coffee). Luis has over 15 years’ experience in cacao/coffee development projects in Central America and the Caribbean where he has done research, farmer training, assisted field technical teams and advised undergraduate and graduate university students. Prior to join LWR-MOCCA project, Luis worked for CATIE (2008-2012) where he led a comprehensive base line assessment of the cacao value chain in Central America and oversaw a network of experimental cacao plots to document the potential of shaded cacao plantations to provide ecosystem services at farm and landscape levels. Luis has also delivered consultancy services to private companies and NGOs and participated as technical advisor on several cocoa boards in the region. Luis has more than 50 publications including scientific and technical articles, educational, training and teaching materials regarding sustainable cacao cultivation.

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Building Technology Toolkits to Support Niche Marketing of Cocoa by Smallholder Farms

N.A. Ali, D.A. Sukha, and P. Umaharan

Theobroma cacao L. is an understory tree species indigenous to the Amazonian forests but is widely cultivated in tropical climates 20 Degrees N and S of the equator. Cocoa is used to produce a wide range of consumer products in actively growing food, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical market segments. Most of the world’s cocoa production is carried out by smallholder farmers who face economic, social and environmental challenges to sustainability. Improving the quality and sustainability of produce will allow them to access the growing niche chocolate market segment that provides a price premium. The Cocoa Research Centre embarked on a 2-year study towards building a model for leveraging quality by characterising the flavour potentials of cocoa bean micro-lots from 36 different farms across 22 cocoa growing communities in Trinidad. The results indicated considerable nuanced flavour diversity within Trinidad that can be leveraged in various branding approaches based on the geographical variation in flavour at the country, regional, estate and even varietal levels. This study facilitated combining sensory quality mapping, geographical based branding together with careful quality control, certification and traceability as part of a science-based technology toolkit. This toolkit provides the approach and methods for optimising quality, building trust through certification and traceability of produce, supporting the development of origin and varietal brands and linking producers to boutique markets through B2B opportunities. This offers smallholder farmers a competitive advantage when targeting international boutique markets.

Bio: Naailah is a Food Technologist at Cocoa Research Centre (CRC), The University of the West Indies since 2006. Her activities span research, training and quality certification at the Food Technology team. Her research covers the cocoa value chain from small-scale fermentation approaches, microbial succession during fermentation, fermentation dynamics and quality of various genetic groups of cacao, as well as cocoa bean drying and product development. Naailah’s other duties cover training on post-harvest processing, quality assessment, food safety, chocolate making and sensory evaluation. Her activities in quality certification focuses on physical and sensory quality assessments to support cacao farmers, cocoa buyers, chocolate manufacturers as well as applications for geographical indications and flavour mapping.

Renovation and rehabilitation programs in Cocoa Agroforestry Systems: A financial optimization approach

Cocoa-based agroforestry systems are assets whose productivity declines with age, affecting the livelihood of millions of farmers worldwide and contributing to deforestation, carbon emission, and biodiversity loss. The optimal time for Renovation and Rehabilitation (R&R) has always eluded agronomists and producers worldwide (Somarriba, et al., 2021). Under this motivation, a theoretical framework was developed to determine the optimal time for a full or phase-out renovation/rehabilitation, which is intended to complement the extension programs for cocoa in Latin America and the Caribbean. Then, the theoretical framework is tested with real data obtained from a cocoa farm in Costa Rica. Following Perrin (1972)'s methodology, we derived a theoretical framework, which indicates that the optimal renovation time for a cocoa grove is determined by the sum of marginal cash flows and the opportunity cost of not establishing the new orchard. The marginal cash flows are defined as the potential cash flows from cocoa, fruits, and the change in timber value that could be obtained from holding the grove one more year. Similarly, the opportunity cost is defined as the potential return gained in the renovation period by money equivalent to the timber harvested, the challenger NPV, and the land value appreciation. A similar conclusion is obtained for a phase-out renovation. The analytical tool developed provides simple ways to analyze the effect on the optimal renovation period of interventions such as orchard diversification, fertilization, pruning, investment subsidies, quality of the challenger, opportunity cost, among others. Overall, from this framework, simple tools can be derived to complement extension programs regarding R&R in Latin America.

Bio: Felipe Peguero is an agronomist with an engineering degree in food processing, a master in Agribusiness, an MBA from INCAE Business School, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Louisiana State University. Currently, Felipe is a professor and researcher for CATIE´s programs in agriculture, livestock, and agroforestry. His research areas are production economics, demand and price analysis, financial analysis, risk analysis, Cost-Benefit Analysis, and international trade. Felipe has worked in the production, processing, marketing, and management of several ag industries. Nowadays, he has the unique opportunity to learn and apply knowledge to help ag sectors in their transition toward decarbonization and climate change resilience. He is delighted to work in a working environment committed to solving one of the world's most pressing problems, climate change.

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