Barry Callebaut hopes to train about 300 farmers in cocoa husbandry in the first year that its new Cocoa Center of Excellence in Côte d'Ivoire is open. And then those trainers will be able to go out into the communities and train others.
The $1.1-million center, which was inaugurated July 5, includes training facilities for farmers and a 30-hectare "showcase farm" to demonstrate state-of-the-art intercropping techniques and yield enhancement practices to increase farm productivity.