The Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs

Sustainable Cocoa Production Program

The Sustainable Cocoa Production Program (SCPP) is a large public-private partnership between Swisscontact and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Millennium Challenge Account-Indonesia (MCA-I). At the national level, SCPP works with the Indonesian Ministry of Home Affairs, while on the regional level, the Program works with provincial and local governments. Private sector partners in the Program are the large national and international institutions: Barry Callebaut, BT Cocoa, Cargill, Ecom, Mars, Mondeléz International, Nestlé, and Olam Cocoa as well as financial institutions and research organizations. SCPP is a member of the Cocoa Sustainability Partnership (CSP) and the Partnership for Indonesian Sustainable Agriculture (PISAgro).

After half an hour driving, the State Secretary and entourage arrived in the Kallukku Village to visit the Tunas Harapan I Farmer Group. State Secretary Ineichen-Fleisch took part in a discussion about the Program’s holistic approach and how farmer’s lives are improving. The State Secretary reviewed the group’s facilities, including a demonstration plot farm, an organic nutrition garden and a nursery with the capacity to produce six thousand cacao seedlings per year.
 

In West Sulawesi, the State Secretary visited a village where SCPP and the Nestlé Cocoa Plan have established facilities for farmer groups to strengthen farmers’ capacity to make farm management decisions based on a better understanding of new farming techniques, circumstances and priorities. One goal is to achieve food security and to improve nutritional quality through home gardening. A second goal is to ensure the availability of high-quality planting material at the village level. State Secretary Ineichen-Fleisch then headed to the Tadui Village to visit the Nestlé Experimental and Demonstration Farm (ED Farm). The three–hectare ED Farm is home to a well-tended clonal garden, a nutrient garden, nurseries, a composting house, a spacious learning hall, a garden house and bean drying facility. R. Wisman Djaja, the Procurement and Sustainability Director for Nestlé Indonesia, welcomed the entourage and described the layout and function of the facilities that enhance farmers’ cocoa productivity and quality, leading to greater income.
 

The State Secretary visited a nursery with the capacity to produce six thousand seedlings annually and a composting house with a storage capacity of four tons. She stopped at the garden house to learn about post-harvest processing including pod breaking, bean selection and bean fermentation, demonstrated by farmers.

Later, the State Secretary and guests were invited by West Sulawesi Governor Adnan Saleh to discuss the results of the trip in the Governor’s residence. The Governor expressed his gratitude to State Secretary Ineichen- Fleisch and her entourage for visiting Mamuju. He pointed out the visit was evidence of a good economic partnership in the cocoa industry between Switzerland and Indonesia. “I hope this mutual partnership will provide relevant benefits and develop the economies of both countries,” said the Governor. In response, the State Secretary said that she was amazed by that day’s field visit and was excited about more to come. The State Secretary praised the dynamic collaboration of all leading cocoa actors facilitating local farmers to improve their cocoa productivity and quality. The State Secretary said that she hopes Indonesia’s goal to be the world’s largest cocoa producer can be realized.

The Global Downstream

The State Secretary travelled to the Bebanga Village to meet with the Karya Tani Farmer Group, trained in Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). Karya Tani is one of 167 farmer groups who benefit from sustainable, best-farming management facilitated by the Program in the province.

The entourage then visited the Sekata Cooperative in Pamulukkang Village. The Cooperative was established by farmer groups who were supported with managerial, financial and organizational skills during Farmer Field School training. There, a range of bean sales activities such bean data collection, bean weighing, and bean quality control up to price determination were showcased by the Cooperative.

Afterwards, the Swiss State Secretary visited the BT Cocoa warehouse and was welcomed by Thomas Jasman (CEO BT Cocoa), who explained the cocoa supply chain established through partnership with SCPP and the Nestlé Cocoa Plan. He explained how the price determination is based on thorough bean quality control. Since April 2015, over 5,000 participating farmers, divided into 167 farmer groups from the Mamuju and Majene districts have sold beans in groups to BT Cocoa buying stations beacsue of a guarenteed fair price, recorded in CocoaTrace*.

The State Secretary then travelled to the city of Makassar and visited the Barry Callebaut – Comextra Majora’s grinding factory. The Swiss State Secretary could see beans from smallholder farmers processed into highquality semi-finished products, such as cocoa mass, for the export market. In empowering Indonesian farmer’s competitiveness, Barry Callebaut will be working with SCPP and the Nestlé Cocoa Plan to train 8,000 new farmer households in West Sulawesi. While in West Sumatra, Barry Callebaut collaborates with SCPP to facilitate trainings for 4,500 farmers. The event series of State Secretary Ineichen-Fleisch ended with a cordial meeting over dinner with South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo. On this occasion, the State Secretary and entourage were entertained with folk dances called ‘gandrang bulo’ and ‘pagelu’ performed by local youth.

*CocoaTrace is a cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) application for program management developed by Swisscontact – SCPP and PT. Koltiva. The features enable the industry to trace cocoa beans from the farm to the processing facility.

The State Secretary then travelled to the city of Makassar and visited the Barry Callebaut – Comextra Majora’s grinding factory. The Swiss State Secretary could see beans from smallholder farmers processed into highquality semi-finished products, such as cocoa mass, for the export market. In empowering Indonesian farmer’s competitiveness, Barry Callebaut will be working with SCPP and the Nestlé Cocoa Plan to train 8,000 new farmer households in West Sulawesi. While in West Sumatra, Barry Callebaut collaborates with SCPP to facilitate trainings for 4,500 farmers. The event series of State Secretary Ineichen-Fleisch ended with a cordial meeting over dinner with South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo. On this occasion, the State Secretary and entourage were entertained with folk dances called ‘gandrang bulo’ and ‘pagelu’ performed by local youth.

During the visit, the Govenor stated the importance of the partnership between Switzerland and Indonesian, and in particular with South Sulawesi. The province has aggressively supported the cocoa sector by growing nineteen million cocoa trees in the last five years, resulting in the improved competitiveness of local farmers. In South Sulawesi, SCPP partners with Cargill and Mondelez International in Bone and Soppeng to train six thousand cocoa farmer households.

In response, State Secretary Ineichen-Fleisch said that she was very pleased with her first visit to the province and thanked the Governor and his officials for their warm greetings. She emphasized that her visit was aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the partnership between Switzerland and Indonesia.

Concluding the friendly night, the State Secretary complimented Swisscontact – SCPP for bringing together the public and private sectors in this context to cooperate with local government. She said it was exciting to see the governments of South Sulawesi and West Sulawesi in cooperation with world’s industry leaders. SCPP, she said, is creating a pivotal change in the industry, empowering cocoa smallholders to act for their welfare and ensure global cocoa sustainability.