CHOCOLATE maker Cadbury PLC announced yesterday it would spend millions over the next few years to boost cocoa yields and to improve the lives of cocoa farmers in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
The investment will affect an estimated one million cocoa farmers located primarily in Ghana, but also in India, Indonesia and the Caribbean, all nations where Cadbury gets the most important ingredient in its candies.
Research by Sussex University in England, which was funded by the candy maker, has shown that the average production for a cocoa farmer has dropped to only 40 percent of potential yield and that cocoa farming has become less attractive to the next potential generation of farmers, according to a statement by the company.
The money Cadbury plans to spend on schools, libraries and wells is intended to attract the next generation into cocoa farming.
"In Ghana, there is a phrase 'Coco obatanpa,' which means 'Cocoa is a good parent. It looks after you,"' James Boateng, the managing director of Cadbury Ghana, said in a statement. "We hope with this initiative, Cadbury and our partners can be a good parent to cocoa," he said.
In the coming year, Cadbury will invest nearly US$2 million to establish the cocoa partnership. By 2010, annual funding will rise to US$9.9 million.
The candy maker's investment comes at a time when United States and European companies have faced heavy criticism for their business practices in developing countries.
British charity Oxfam has accused coffee giant Starbucks Corp of keeping Ethiopia from earning millions a year by blocking its bid to trademark three types of coffee beans - Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe.
Last year, Starbucks and the Ethiopian government agreed to work together to promote the prized specialty coffees, and Starbucks said it would open a farmer support center in Ethiopia's capital to help growers improve the quality of their coffee crops and boost production using sustainable practices.
Another example is sneaker maker Nike Inc, which has invested heavily in community development in the nations where its products are made in a global strategy intended to counteract earlier allegations of worker mistreatment and use of "sweatshop" labor.