(Business in Cameroon) - Whilst the overall average farm gate price of cocoa is just above XAF1,000 in Cameroon’s production areas as shown by daily data from the Sector Information System -SIF, some growers trade the crop at a bit more than XAF1,600 per kg.
The pricey cocoa, according to the trade minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, is that sold at centers of excellence for post-harvest processing set up by the cocoa-coffee inter professional council and its partners in certain production areas to improve crop quality.
“Thanks to their highly improved quality, a kilogram of beans processed in these facilities equipped with special drying equipment, is currently being traded at above 2.5 euros, or more than XAF1,600,” said Mr. Mbarga Atangana.
Leveraging this advantage, the council is intending to submit the beans of excellence at the 2019 International Cocoa Awards, and also “introduce all New Generation groups (young people recruited and supervised to rejuvenate the production force in the cocoa and coffee sectors) into the process of promoting cocoa of excellence, through the establishment of post-harvest cocoa processing centers.”
Further, the council will build more centers of excellence across the country, with the long-term aim of setting them in all 36 localities. The new generation program currently monitors more than 1,500 young cocoa growers and enabled the creation of more than 2,500 hectares of new cocoa farms in Cameroon in 7 years.
Brice R. Mbodiam