Improving Cocoa Productivity and Food Security

In parallel to the Cocoa Livelihoods Program (CLP), TechnoServe was a key implementer in the African Cocoa Initiative (ACI), which sought to institutionalize effective public and private sector models for sustainable productivity growth and improve food security on cocoa farms in West and Central Africa.

Under ACI, TechnoServe leveraged learnings from the CLP input credit scheme to demonstrate a commercially viable credit model for cocoa smallholders linked to spray service providers to assure the safety and effectiveness of agricultural input application.

Over the course of the program, TechnoServe formed 19 private sector partnerships including four financial institutions, and facilitated nearly $180,000 worth of input credit to 914 unique farmers who maintained repayment rates of 99 percent. In Cote d’Ivoire, 531 farmers received nearly $110,000 worth of input credit and maintained repayment rates of 100 percent. In Nigeria, 383 farmers received nearly $70,000 worth of credit and maintained a repayment rate of 98 percent. The project was particularly successful in mobilizing partnership with the private sector; farmer uptake and credit application success – which was higher than anticipated; encouraging early repayment and high overall repayment rates, introduction of a functional cash repayment model in Nigeria, and the creation of a network of Community Based Agents.