Rabobank Group

The objective of the four-year Upcocoa Project in Cameroon is to assist the numerous small cocoa bean growers of the Central Province (around Yaoundé) to establish an efficient and profitable central marketing cooperative in order to improve their farm income and to achieve a sustainable and bankable cooperative organisation.

The project aims to bring about improvements vis-à-vis both the economic organisation and the core elements of sustainable development, with a particular focus on promoting farm practices that are in line with the equirements of forest preservation, responsible use of fertilizers and pesticides. Rabo Development serves as project manager and advisor for cooperative development. 

The project is funded by the Cocoa Buffer Fund of Dutch government and carried out by a consortium comprised of ADM (cocoa bean processor Zaandijk), Mars (chocolate industries Veghel), STCP (Sustainable Tree Crops Programme West-Africa) and ISCOM (Institute for Sustainable Commodities, Apeldoorn). The process of capacity building for the farmers (board of directors and supervisory board members) is carried out in close cooperation with the farm field schools programme being conducted by STCP and Socodevi (Canadian Development Organisation).

The project places stringent demands on the organisational and financial discipline of the cooperative and its members. Concrete capitalisation of the cooperative is necessary in order to achieve the level of creditworthiness required to become bankable and independent. During the current stage of the project, the financial arrangements between the marketing cooperative, local banks and cocoa bean buyers are being formulated. Assistance is also being provided to improve the logistics of the supply chain, from harvesting through shipment from Douala seaport. 

Capacity building is an indispensable element of the project because it is vital in order to establish the final commitment and support of the ordinary members concerning professional governance, volumes delivered and capitalisation of the cooperative.