VZCZCXRO9415
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHYD #0837/01 1801117
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291117Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7907
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHGI/AMEMBASSY BANGUI 0155
RUEHLC/AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE 1553
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1630
RUEHMA/AMEMBASSY MALABO 0241
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 0009
RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA 1518
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1879
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 0001
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 YAOUNDE 000837 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CM ELAB ECON EAGR PHUM
SUBJECT: CAMEROON'S COCOA SECTOR: ECONOMIC AND LABOR ISSUES 
 
 
YAOUNDE 00000837  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (U) PolOff recently met with Bill Guyton, president of 
the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) and separately with 
representatives from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service 
(ARS).  The USDA's focus is on disease prevention in the 
cocoa sector, while WCF addresses primarily world market 
development.  Cameroon may be vulnerable to threats from 
disease and food terrorism, threats that its agricultural 
research institute (IRAD) is seeking to counter.  While 
Cameroon is a major cocoa producer, its cocoa is not a 
sufficiently high quality to compete effectively on the world 
market, and farmers do not earn the same rate of return as 
farmers in other countries.  Cocoa cultivation in Cameroon is 
mainly carried out by small shareholders, who have developed 
a mixed-cropping system to guard against market fluctuations. 
 Although the WCF has not found evidence of child 
trafficking, there are farm safety issues that affect 
children.  WCF also promotes literacy and numeracy among 
cocoa farmers.  End summary. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Recent U.S. Visitors to Cameroon 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) The USDA team visited Cameroon's agricultural 
research institute (French acronym, IRAD), which is 
associated with the worldwide CIRAD program, a reflection of 
France's historical ties in Cameroon; it also has some past 
ties with Russia.  The bulk of the program's activities are 
in Africa. 
 
¶3.  (U) The USDA team included Eileen Herrera, USFDA-ARS; 
Juan C. Motomayor, Masterfoods USA; Prakash K. Hebbar, 
USDA-ARS; Eric Rosenquist, National Program Leader, Tropical 
Commodities, USDA-ARS; and a French representative from the 
ARS facility in Montpelier. 
 
¶4.  (U) Poloff met separately with Bill Guyton, president of 
the WCF.  The WCF works with the USDA-ARS on training and 
outreach programs, doing long-term investment in cocoa 
research, pest management, and mapping the cocoa genome. 
 
-------------------------- 
Cocoa Research in Cameroon 
-------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) The main focus of the cocoa research carried out is 
disease resistance, although researchers are also looking for 
alternatives to cacao growing.  The WCF funds regional 
programs for crop research on fungal diseases that take one 
third of the crop each year (and one half of the Latin 
American crop).  There is pressure to develop disease 
resistance to witch's broom and frosty pod, fungal diseases 
that can easily be spread through contact with workers' 
clothing.  These blights can destroy not just crops, but 
whole trees.  Although these maladies are not currently 
present in African countries, Africa is potentially 
vulnerable, and researchers want to prepare Africa for the 
expected plague.  These diseases would be devastating if they 
reached West Africa, according to the IRAD team. 
 
¶6.  (U) There is some concern about food terrorism, i.e., 
deliberate attempts to destroy crops.  According to Herrera, 
there have been rumors, later proved untrue, about people 
trying to carry witch's broom to Cote d'Ivoire; however, 
smugglers have been caught carrying frosty pod in Mexico, she 
said. 
 
¶7.  (U) The research in Cameroon includes genetic research to 
tag the cacao genes, but researchers are not creating 
genetically modified (GMO) products because the high-end 
chocolate consumer is leery of GMO products.  Instead, 
researchers are working on accelerated breeding methods using 
traditional techniques.  Much of the research performed in 
the cocoa industry is country-specific, with a focus on 
developing fine chocolates in response to market demand. 
 
¶8.  (U) Pierre Tondje, a Cameroonian scientist collaborating 
 
YAOUNDE 00000837  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
with Prakash Hebbar, is currently working on black pod, which 
is the problem in Cameroon. Their work is supported by USDA, 
USAID and Masterfoods, 
 
 
------------- 
U.S. Interest 
------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) Although the U.S. is not a cocoa producer, it does 
have a major interest in cocoa (reflected in Congressional 
acts), because of the large number of U.S. products used in 
chocolate production, and because the U.S. is also a major 
consumer, Herrera said.  According to WCF, most U.S. products 
are obtained from Cote d'Ivoire; Ghana markets to the 
European Union. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Economic Factors Affecting Cocoa in Cameroon 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (U) Though not the region of origin, Africa is the 
largest producer of cocoa in the world.  African cocoa is not 
high-quality, however, because the emphasis is on higher 
production, not higher quality.  Cameroonian farmers lack 
incentives to grow high-quality cocoa because low- and 
high-quality beans are bought at the same price.  The buyers 
are able to extract the desired quality from the mix of beans 
they purchase. 
 
¶11.  (U) The degradation of the quality of Cameroonian cocoa 
is attributed to economic liberalization policies aimed at 
eliminating price controls.  In 1985, approximately 70 
percent of Cameroon's exported cocoa was classified as high 
quality; that percentage has since declined to less than 10 
percent. 
 
¶12.  (U) Cocoa cultivation in Cameroon is mainly carried out 
by small shareholders, not plantation growers.  As a result, 
Cameroon is the best example of the mixed-cropping system, 
which was developed by the Cameroonian farmers themselves, 
who were concerned about growing cash crops that were 
vulnerable to market fluctuations.  The farmers therefore 
prefer to grow cocoa along with food crops, which can be 
eaten should the market for cocoa drop. 
 
¶13.  (U) According to WCF's Bill Guyton, what producers are 
looking for now good is quality.  Cameroon is not currently 
"at the top of the list."  Companies are looking to South 
America, primarily Ecuador, which produces 90,000 tons of 
cocoa per year.  Demand has been rising, and the industry 
"needs another Ecuador each year" (i.e., 90,000 tons of 
cocoa) to satisfy it.  Guyton said that Cameroon would 
benefit at this time from a national policy addressing 
quality standards in order to attract buyers looking for 
high-quality cocoa. 
 
¶14.  (U) Guyton said that West African farmers are farther 
removed from the marketing process than are farmers 
elsewhere.  WCF is promoting co-operatives to help remedy 
that problem.  Currently, West African farmers receive only 
35 percent of the market price, compared to Indonesia, where 
they obtain 80-90 percent of the price. 
 
------------------ 
Child Labor Issues 
------------------ 
 
¶15.  (U) WCF addresses education and child labor issues in 
the cocoa industry as well.  It is developing programs 
inGhana and Cote d'Ivoire to promote literacy and numeracy 
among the next generation of cocoa farmers, according to 
Guyton, primarily through STCP (Sustainable Tree Crop 
Program) Farmer Field Schools.  WCF is also sensitive to 
child labor issues, which Guyton said are often difficult to 
define; the WCF uses ILO Convention 182 as a guide.  Although 
the WCF claims it has not found evidence of child trafficking 
in the cocoa sector, Guyton said there are farm safety issues 
that affect children, such as pesticide use and the dangers 
posted by the use of machetes and the carrying of heavy 
loads.  (Note:  According to the 2006 Human Rights Report, 
 
YAOUNDE 00000837  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
there were estimates of up to 8,000 underaged (17 and under) 
children working in the cocoa industry, most of whom were 
likely working alongside their parents or with their parents' 
consent and not/not trafficked into the sector.)  Current 
efforts at a certification process to address child labor 
issues, according to Guyton, focus on Ghana and Cote 
d'Ivoire, not Cameroon. 
MARQUARDT