![]() ![]() Today, Ivory Coast produces two million tonnes of cocoa per year, equivalent to more than 40 percent of the world's market.īut expansion has also come at a grim price for the environment and fuelled a dependency that ratchets up rural poverty whenever prices slump. The chocolate made from their cocoa is sold in French supermarkets under the brand "Grand Cru M'Brimbo," a name that resonates with fine wines-"Grand Cru" means "vintage."Ĭocoa growing was massively promoted by Ivory Coast's government following independence in 1960, becoming the backbone of the country's rise as one of West Africa's leading economies. "When producers are trained and well-paid, they can make very good cocoa in Ivory Coast," said Arthur Gautier, an agronomist who works for Ethiquable, a French company that specialises in marketing fair-trade products and buys SCEB's harvest. The local farmers' collective, the Fair Cooperative Society of Bandama (SCEB), sell their high-quality produce at twice the market rate for non-organic cocoa. ![]() Not so in M'Brimbo, a village in central Ivory Coast which 11 years ago became a testing ground for organic cocoa farming and today is prospering. ![]()
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