The cooperative strengthened its dedication in 2024 by turning into a part of the ‘Projet d’Appui au Développement du Cacao’ (PAD-CACAO), which goals to develop cocoa farming in Cameroon. The programme is led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Improvement. 

To determine the principle areas of intervention, the PAD-CACAO undertaking deployed a Nationwide Coordination workforce in Ihund (the cooperative’s head workplace) on 22 and 23 Could 2024, to be able to perform a participatory analysis with the affiliation’s members. 

Via discussions and sharing of experiences, this participatory analysis was supposed to: 

Analysis targets and course of 

 Via discussions and sharing of experiences, this participatory analysis was supposed to: 

• accumulate socio-economic knowledge on the cooperative’s members in order that actions might be tailored; 
• perceive the principle difficulties encountered by the ladies producers and collect their options; 
• outline an motion plan to succeed in the cooperative’s targets. 

To satisfy a most variety of ladies cocoa farmers, the Nationwide Coordination workforce went to Ihund, in addition to to the three places of work of the cooperative: Iaakok, Pendjock and Ndog Njé (which has merged with Ihund). 

Animation of the Rural Girls of the Iaakok workplace 

The 2 days of discussions had been organised in collaboration with the ‘Conseil Interprofessionnel du Cacao et du Café’ (CICC), which already helps the cooperative in its improvement. 

Every participant crammed in a really detailed identification sheet to gather the next info: 

• identification of the lady producer; 
• her manufacturing, processing and advertising knowledge; 
• her monetary habits; 
• any issues she has encountered and any options she might have for future motion. 

Filling in identification sheets at Iaakok 

The aim of gathering this info was to find out the income-generating actions, record the manufacturing issues, prioritise essentially the most worthwhile crops and thus set up an motion plan to assist the cooperative to realize its targets. 

The outcomes of the analysis 

Due to a poor phone community within the area, solely 24 of the 50 ladies anticipated acquired the invitation and took half within the conferences. 

However, evaluation of the info collected helped us to determine main socio-economic developments among the many cooperative’s members. The next are a couple of key figures: 

• solely 17% of the members are underneath the age of 35 (the strenuousness of the work is thus to be taken under consideration sooner or later actions to be applied); 
• 61% of the members have a major schooling degree and 35% a secondary schooling degree; 
• 7 ladies are financially depending on their family; 
• 100% of the ladies members of the cooperative make their residing from the advertising of agricultural merchandise, and solely 4% elevate livestock farming (not all of the cocoa fields are but in manufacturing, which implies that ladies make their residing from different crops like cassava, macabo, yam, plantain bananas, and many others.); 
• 74% of the monetary sources come from the producers’ personal cash; 
• 40% of the members save their sources after gross sales and 35% have their very own checking account; 
• 91% of the members pay their monetary obligations, together with membership charges and annual dues; 
• 70% of the workforce is family-based, and solely 30% has short-term worker standing. 

Strengths 

Every farmer has between one and 4 plots of meals crops on common, and one hectare of cocoa bushes. The analysis recognized the crops that must be intensified to be able to pool advertising (primarily cassava and maize). 

Because of the survey, it was additionally potential to determine the pure sources out there within the rural space of Ihund, and the extra revenue alternatives they may create as soon as developed. 

The primary difficulties 

Nonetheless, the survey additionally revealed main difficulties encountered by ladies producers. 

They talked about specifically the infertility of the soil (typically bolstered by the observe of slash-and-burn agriculture), the presence of bugs and pests that spoil harvests, important losses, particularly on plots cultivated in polyculture, the poor high quality of seeds, in addition to outdated and inappropriate instruments. 

By way of advertising, group gross sales actions are at the moment underneath improvement, however the producers deplore the poor state of the roads and the shortage of technique of transport, which make advertising very tough. 

Discussions and sharing of experiences regarding manufacturing questions 

Motion plan and areas of intervention 

An motion plan has already been established with the ‘Conseil Interprofessionnel du Cacao et du Café’ to help the cooperative members for 3 years in all features of creating their enterprise: 

• enterprise administration, management, administrative and monetary administration, negotiation, 
• gear and infrastructure upkeep, 
• cocoa farming data and experience (cocoa tree agrosystem, productiveness, cocoa farm regeneration, processing strategies, preservation, packaging, and extra). 
• setting and high quality (sustainable environmental administration, consciousness of cocoa traceability, well being necessities, and so forth). 

On the idea of the analysis and all the info collected, the PAD-CACAO workforce determined to focus its help on supplying high-performance seeds and strengthening the agricultural data of the Rural Girls of the Littoral. 

This represents a terrific step ahead for the cooperative. We can be preserving an in depth eye on the outcomes of those actions over the approaching months! 

Picture of the Rural Girls of the Littoral on the cooperative’s head workplace in Ihund.