Intensified Cocoa for Sustainable Development in Liberia

1. Intensified Cocoa for SustainableDevelopment in Liberia Dr. James Gockowski Sustainable Tree Crops Program International Institute of Tropical Agriculture HN/No. 275 Volta Street Po Box 135 Accra, Ghana tel: 233-21-763675 fax: 233-21-772789 email: j.gockowski@cgiar.org skype: jim.gockowski

2. Liberian Baseline Survey • Survey of the cocoa sector was conducted in Bong, Nimba, and Lofa counties in 2006 • 13,000 households produced an estimated 2,100 mt • Small holdings averaging 1 ha • Fundamental problem is low potential of existing farms--145 kg/ha yield (n=37) • Majority of farms were established in 1970s or earlier • Abandoned during the civil unrest • Cocoa black pod disease and rodents reduce yields by over 50% (42.3 percent and 10.3 percent)

3. How much distance is there between the Ivoirian and Liberian cocoa sectors? Answer: About 200 kilometers and ONE BILLION $USD!!!! $1-$2 million projected farmgate revenues for Lofa, Bong and Nimba cocoa farmers $250-$350 million projected farmgate revenues for SW Ivoirian cocoa farmers

4. Chicken and Egg • For the cocoa sector to make a meaningful contribution to economic growth and the achievement of Millennium Development Goals, the productivity and scale of cocoa production systems must be increased while development of a competitive and efficient cocoa marketing chain must be fostered.

5. Issues Marketing Production • Raising cocoa incomes, which were less than $100 in 2006, will require the support of both the public and private sectors in building viable Liberian institutions for: • Improvements of farm-to-market roads • Competitive and efficient cocoa marketing driven by reform of market policies and regulatory procedures • Quality improvement with attention to proper fermentation, drying and storage • The selection, production and distribution of improved planting material • Producer training • Agricultural input marketing • Rural finance

6. The ICPR System • An intensified cocoa—plantain + rice (ICPR) production system offers a potential pathway for addressing Liberian rural poverty, food security, and development goals. • Establishing ICPR systems begins with the felling, slashing and burning of old cocoa orchards and/or bush fallow fields, followed by the planting of improved rice and plantain to provide income. • Plantain provides temporary shade for the improved cocoa to be planted in the following year. Planting densities for both cocoa and plantains are 1,400 per ha.

7. Availability of Improved Planting Materials Assume that farmers seek to plant 8,000 ha of ICPR systems annually • Plantain • Approx 11.2 million plantain suckers needed • Institutional arrangements for the training of individual farmers and nursery entrepreneurs in the rapid multiplication of clean planting material will need to be developed. • Cocoa • Similar number of cocoa seedlings would be required. • Most feasible approach is the seed garden production of manually pollinated hybrids from selected parent clonal lines as practiced in Ghana. • Successfully producing hybrids requires the selection of adapted clones, maintenance of budwood gardens, the production of rootstocks, skilled labor for grafting and hand pollination and nursery maintenance.

8. Cocoa Planting Materialcntd. • Substantial public investment is needed to build the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI) capacity for the production of hand pollinated hybrids. • To produce the 11 million seedlings needed to plant 8,000 ha annually would require approximately 44 ha of seed garden. • Currently, the capacity of the CARI cocoa seed gardens in Gbarnga and Lofa is basically nil and their future use is being reviewed. • As an interim seed strategy, the Ministry of Agriculture should attempt to borrow seed technology from neighboring producer countries. • For short-run impact, a minimum of 28,000 pods (potentially sufficient for 725 ha) should be sought, preferably from Ghana, although other origins might be necessary to reach the proposed target. • To promote early adoption, smart subsidies are recommended to encourage the spread of this seed technology. • The encouragement of both private foreign and local investment in seed production facilities is highly desirable as well and consideration should be given to tax holidays on the returns from such investment.

9. Farmer Training in Intensified Cocoa Production • Goal: 1000kg/ha yield • STCP has developed a comprehensive training curriculum for intensified cocoa production: • Establishment practices for hybrid cocoa • Pruning techniques • Integrated pest management for blackpod disease and capsids • Training on the processing required for graded quality, good fermented cocoa. • The curriculum has been pilot tested through Farmer Field Schools conducted in communities across Nimba and Bong Counties

10. Farmer Training in Intensified Cocoa Production • The FFS organizational structure consists of: • Facilitators who conduct the training • Supervisors who ensure quality control • Master trainers who train and support the facilitators and manage the FFS program overall. • To train 2000 farmers per year will require: • 80 FFS with an average of 25 participants conducted by 40 facilitators • Supported by 4-5 supervisors and at least one master trainer. • The number of master trainers required should increase with the geographic spread of the program. • The high cost of FFS necessitates that the districts covered by FFS training be strategically chosen on the basis of agro-ecological and economic potential so as to maximize the payoff.

11. Sustainability of Farmer Training Recommendations • As governmental capacity reaches a critical mass, responsibility for the implementation of FFS training be given to the Ministry of Agriculture with the STCP supporting the Ministry to establish new institutional arrangements. • A mixed community and state extension arrangement, with farmer trainers chosen from, and supported by local community agricultural associations, with technical training, backstopping and supervision provided at the district level by the county extension service is one possible configuration.

12. Fostering a Competitive Input Supply Sector • One ha of the ICPR system, once in full cocoa production, requires: • 75 sachets of fungicide • 125 kg of fertilizer • 1 liter of fungicide. • The total agrochemical expense evaluated at West African prices is approximately US$150 per ha. • If 50,000 ha of intensified systems were brought into production, the estimated size of the agrochemical market for the production of cocoa would be US$7.5 million.

13. Current Status of Liberian Agricultural Input Sector • Currently the private sector agrochemical supply chain in Liberia is very underdeveloped. • In June 2008, only three firms were importing agrochemicals into the country for retail sale to farmers. • Current prices are several times higher than those found in other parts of West Africa, mainly due to low volumes and the high transaction costs of importing through Monrovia. • Cocoa farmers are not using any purchased inputs and only two retail outlets are in the cocoa growing region of the country.

14. Recommendations for Input Supply Sector • Efforts should be made to facilitate new business linkages along the input supply chain and promote the use of fertilizers, including: • Stimulating demand for inputs among farmers. • Given the cash constraints, credit arrangements need to be made • On the research side, fertilizer response functions for the three main cocoa growing regions would be useful for determining optimal levels of use as a function of the plants physical response and the prices of fertilizer and cocoa.

15. Rural Credit and Savings • For the intensified production of cocoa, farmers must first invest in new tree stocks using improved planting material and will need substantial amounts of agrochemical inputs over the course of the growing season. • In short term, encouragement of interlinked production credit, provided either through buying agents or the cooperatives • In long term, full financial intermediation which includes savings and credit as well as money transfers should be the objective. • The creation of village banks, credit unions, and savings & loan associations with secured safes for guarding member’s deposits will allow for the longer term lending needs of cocoa households.