To boost sustainable cocoa, coffee trading: UN, partners launch over one billion FCFA project.

Financed to the tune of 2.2 million dollar, a circa 1.3 billion FCFA by the government of Japan, the project was officially launched Wednesday in Yaounde.

The project, dubbed “Promoting Sustainability and Strengthening International Competitiveness of Domestic Products by Enhancing Advanced Technologies”, will be implemented in Cameroon by the UNIDO.

The initiative seeks to strengthen the cocoa and coffee value chain from the level of production to marketing and sale. 

The project is expected to last three years. It will run from 2024 to 2027 with the main objective to support the cocoa and coffee value chain through the application of technology.

Speaking during the Yaounde ceremony, the UNIDO Cameroon Field Office Representative, Raymond Tavares, said the project will offer technical training to cocoa and coffee producers by giving them techniques to improve post-harvest processing.

According to Tavares, the main objective of the project is to promote sustainability and strengthen the competitiveness of Cameroonian cocoa and coffee at the world market. He thanked the government of Japan for the huge financial support. 

The support, he said, will confidently go a long way to improve on the quality of cocoa and coffee in the international market

He equally saluted the engagement of the government of Cameroon as well as the different cooperatives involved in the chain for making the sector an autonomous one, thus stimulating economic growth.

“The project seeks to bring new technologies to commercialise quality cocoa and coffee from Cameroon. We plan to do better, through the project. We will like to bring new processes, instruments and methods that will help the sector to respond to high quality demand,” Tavares told reporters.

The project, Tavares stated, equally intends to gain the trust of consumers.

“The project is going to bring more partnerships, open new markets with Japan and the international market as a whole in the cocoa and coffee sector,” Tavares said.

The project, he added, is a platform that brings together all operators working in the sector.

“This was one of the conditions put in by the government of Japan and this could be an opportunity to improve on the lives of those in the sector living in remote areas. We equally intend to improve their resilience capacity,” the official said.

He urged all producers to make good use of the opportunity UNIDO is offering them.

According to the Chargé d’Affaires a.i at the Embassy of Japan, Ikeda Kiyokhiko, the major project piloted by UNIDO is a global initiative that involves all players.

The project, the diplomat said is part of Cameroon’s efforts to improve on the value chain of cocoa and coffee the country produces. 

Thanks to the project, he suggested, the value of cocoa and coffee is expected to significantly improve. Ikeda Kiyokhiko also encouraged all those involved in the projects to make good use of it.

“We hope to taste and consume Cameroonian cocoa and coffee in Japan,” the diplomat stated.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Issues No:3140 of Thursday June 13, 2024