
Clutching her certificate, Hélène Kla Amenan was all smiles at her graduation ceremony on 23 May 2014. After a seven-week intensive training, Hélène was now equipped with the skills to set up a Cocoa Village Centre in her village. Here, she will offer cocoa farmers the services, advice and products they need to rejuvenate their farms for better and more sustainable productivity.
Hélène and the 52 other youthful graduates will run their village centres as independent businesses, but will be supported closely by the Vision for Change (V4C) project. This public-private partnership funded by Mars Chocolate is implemented in Côte d’Ivoire by World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) with national partners[1], and brings farmers together with services, products and know-how to boost cocoa yields and build sustainable cocoa communities. By 2020 the project aims to reach 100,000 cocoa producers in Soubré, one of the highest cocoa-producing areas of the country.Read more. . .