PLANTING MATERIAL

The cocoa variety on the farm is decisive for flavor, productivity, and resilience to effects of climate change and disease resistance. Investment on research has been heavily neglected over the last years, despite growing challenges around climatic conditions and pest and diseases.

Cocoa Horizons tackles the topic from 3 angles:

1. Establishment of research pipeline: It takes at least 5-10 years to make new variety available to cocoa farmers, including all the research trials to select and validate the variety. We collaborate closely with international cocoa collections and national research institutes.
2. Facilitating access for farmers: Providing access to high quality and healthy cocoa seedlings via well-established and maintained nurseries, seed gardens (hybrid seedlings), or budwood gardens (clonal material). In Central and West Africa, the predominant way of growing new cocoa trees is through seeds from pods from selected parental trees, so called hybrids. The other propagation method is via budwood, i.e. clonal planting material, mostly used in South America and Southeast Asia.
3. High attention on CSSV: Putting a specific focus on the urgency of the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus (CSSV) in West Africa. Not only through management practices, but specifically through closer collaboration with research institutes to accelerate the breeding of CSSV tolerant or even resistant cocoa varieties.
   In 2024/25 we launched a 100-hectare CSSV pilot project in Côte d’Ivoire. This initiative provides a comprehensive framework to fight against CSSV in areas experiencing high disease pressure.