Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut has launched a CHF40m (US$43.1m) global sustainability cocoa initiative that it says will improve yields, quality and livelihoods in key cocoa-producing countries.

The ‘Cocoa Horizons’ initiative will see the company invest CHF5m in the 2011/2012 fiscal year in farmer training, infrastructure and community education and health programmes, it said this morning (15 March). The activities will be undertaken in cooperation with agricultural and development experts and government institutions.

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Barry Callebaut said the initiative aims to boost farm productivity, increase quality and improve family livelihoods in key cocoa producing countries in West and Central Africa and Indonesia over a ten-year period.

The company said it will focus first on large producer countries including Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Cameroon and Brazil, and aims to expand the initiative to other cocoa producing countries with high development potential over the coming years.

“The scarcity of quality cocoa is a serious concern that touches the heart of our business – because without more cocoa, we can’t produce more chocolate,” said Barry Callebaut’s CEO Juergen Steinemann. “Innovative and comprehensive solutions are urgently needed to reverse the overall decline in global cocoa production.

“We’ve therefore made sustainable cocoa a pillar of our company’s ambitious growth strategy, and accelerated our long-time efforts to ensure sustainable cocoa production. Our newest initiative, Cocoa Horizons, is the most ambitious and far reaching sustainability program in Barry Callebaut’s history.”

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