Innovations have been increasing for the drying of cocoa beans in the country. The Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), through its cocoa specialised laboratories has developed advanced technologies in drying cocoa beans which conserves the product's high-grade quality and makes it competitive in the world market.

Capacity Building

According to Dr Kameni Anselme, researcher with IRAD, the structure has been putting a lot of efforts in building the capacities of actors on the various techniques it develops. "Focus has been on the training of trainers and the organisation of demonstration workshops on the techniques developed," he said. Officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cocoa Development Corporation, Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Board as well as cooperatives and other farmer organisations, he added, have also been schooled on the various techniques. Hope is that the trained would pass the technology to others and the bad habits like drying the product on along paved roads which greatly reduces the quality would be a thing of the past.

What Fruits Thus Far!

The constitution of farmers into organisations for better visibility, Dr Kameni said, is fruit of research given that they needed a forum through which technology from the laboratory could be easily handed down to the producers even in the most remote part of the country. The research and its inculcation into the farming system, he added, contributed in no small way in catapulting the country to one of the best world cocoa producing nations. Cameroon is Africa's fourth-biggest cocoa producer and the country's cocoa harvest in the 2010-11 season increased to 240,000 metric tonnes from 198,000 tonnes a year earlier. IRAD believes some of the old post-harvest practices that consolidated quality have been abandoned by today's generation. Stakeholders therefore need to redouble their efforts to impart the best practices into farmers not only for drying but for local processing as well.