Cocoa Project
The Cocoa Project is led by Green Organic Watch Growers Cooperative Society Ltd and involves 5,500 smallholder farmers as partners. The concept is to promote the adoption and application of good farming practices to enable the sale of certified cocoa to speciality markets at premium prices. By mobilising smallholder farmers to form themselves into savings and lending groups, the enterprise creates easy access to credit and markets and provides technical support for good agricultural practices, so improving production, productivity and quality.
- Increasing the revenues of local farmers by bulking and selling.
- Improving farmers’ capacities through training in production, productivity and quality management.
- Creating direct and indirect employment opportunities for local communities.
- Generating green business – more than 800 farmers have been trained in good agricultural practices and certification requirements.
- Increasing sustainable agriculture by producing organic products free of agro-chemical contamination.
- Increasing market access by aiming to supply at least 2,000 tons of certified cocoa to the international market each year.
- Increasing the bargaining power of the farmers in open markets and protecting cooperative economic interests along the cocoa value chain.
Partners
Green Organic Watch Growers Cooperative Society Ltd is a farmers’ cooperative which produces and sells farmers’ products at better prices, while protecting its members’ interests on the cocoa market.
Swiss Contact Uganda is a local NGO offering technical assistance and empowerment to farmers’ groups and organising training, conferences and meetings.
National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU) promotes the organic sector in Uganda. It encourages networking among its members and provides them with technical support.
Kilmohai is a local NGO which offers consultancy services on Rainforest Alliance’s certification requirements and standards for international marketing.
