Nestlé is working with over 30 coops and over 18,000 farmers in the Nestlé Cocoa Plan in Côte d’Ivoire.
Amongst our projects, we are training the farmers to improve the productivity of their orchards and the quality of their cocoa, improve health and safety on their farms, and help them understand our stance on labour conditions – including child labour. Following this, we ensure they are certified by UTZ or Fairtrade. As of June 2012, 16 cooperatives have achieved UTZ certified status, and three are now Fairtrade certified.
Another key part of our work in the Côte d'Ivoire is propagating new cocoa trees to help rejuvenate old orchards. Plantlets are grown in nurseries and then given to farmers ready for planting. In 2012, we will produce over 800,000 plantlets for Nestlé Cocoa Plan farmers in the Côte d'Ivoire alone. To further increase the know how in the country, we are building an experimental and demonstration farm near Yamoussoukro, where farmers can visit to see best practices.
To complement these activities, we have started a school project with WCF to build or refurbish 40 schools in 4 years.
