Peningkatan Kapasitas Petani Cokelat Desa Randualas Kecamatan Kare Kabupaten Madiun Melalui Edukasi Kualitas Kemasan Produk Cokelat

<p align="justify"><em><strong>Increasing the Capacity of Chocolate Farmers in Randualas Village Kare District Madiun Regency through Education of Chocolate Product Packaging Quality.</strong></em> Cocoa is one of the largest commodities from Madiun Regency. Cocoa has the potential to be developed into processed chocolate products that will become typical souvenirs of Madiun Regency. The cocoa farmers in Randualas Village, Kare District, Madiun Regency have received counseling on the processing of cocoa beans into ready-to-consume chocolate products. However, the chocolate product was wraped in only an HDPE plastic layer which was less attractive to consumers, so it is necessary to improve the quality of the chocolate packaging. This community empowerment aims to increase the ability of cocoa farmers (partners) to package chocolate products properly and attractively so it will further increase the economic value of their chocolate product. The activities are education and counseling about the importance of packaging for chocolate products and how to design good and attractive packaging. Monitoring and evaluation were also carried out by filling out questionnaires by participants regarding the level of understanding of the material before and after being presented. The result showed that the partners understand the importance of packaging in food products in general and packaging for chocolate products in particular. It was evidenced that after counseling, up to 50% of participants understand the importance of packaging in the food packaging process and 50% of participants understand the criteria for good packaging for chocolate products.</p>

Analysis of Cocoa Exchange Rates in Blitar Regency

Farmer's Exchange Rate (NTP) is a proxy indicator or indicator of the approach to the level of farmer welfare. The welfare of farmers can describe the purchasing power of farmers. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of welfare of cocoa farmers. This study used time series data from NTP with the base year of 2012 = 100 as the basis for calculating the years 2019 - 2020. The location of the study was determined by the purposive sampling method in The Blitar Regency which is the center of Cocoa. The sample was selected by purposive random sampling as many as 60 Cocoa Farmers. The NTP analysis method was carried out descriptively. The results showed that the exchange rate of Cocoa Farmers in 2020 increased by 1.20 percent from 100.54 in 2019 to 101.75 in 2019. This indicates that cocoa farmers in The Blitar district are experiencing a surplus or prosperity.

Aroma Properties of Cocoa Fruit Pulp from Different Origins

Cocoa pulp occurs as a by-product of cocoa bean production and can be repurposed to different food applications, such as jams, fruit preparations and beverages, improving the sustainability of cocoa production, as well as the livelihoods of cocoa farmers. In this work, aroma-active compounds of fresh cocoa fruit pulps from different origins were investigated by applying aroma extract dilution analyses in combination with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/olfactometry for identification. In total, 65 aroma-active compounds were determined in four different pulps originating from Indonesia, Vietnam, Cameroon, and Nicaragua. Vietnamese pulp showed the highest number of aroma-active regions, while Cameroonian pulp accounted for the lowest. Moreover, Cameroonian cocoa pulp showed the lowest FD factors. Overall, the odorants with the highest FD factors were trans-4,5-epoxy-(E)-decenal, 2- and 3-methylbutanoic acid, 3-(methylthio)propanal, 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, (E,E)-2,4-nonadienal, (E,E)-2,4-decadienal, 4-vinyl-2-methoxyphenol, δ-decalactone, 3-hydroxy-4,5-dimethylfuran-2(5H)-one, dodecanoic acid, and linalool. This study provides insights into the aroma composition of fresh cocoa pulp from different origins for future food applications.

Migrants and non-migrants' welfare on cocoa farms in Ghana: Multidimensional poverty index approach

PurposeThe study assessed welfare of migrant and non-migrant labourers on cocoa farms in Ghana, using multidimensional poverty index (MPI) with four dimensions (education, health, dietary diversity, living standards) and 21 indicators. Specifically, we examined and compared non-monetary welfare of migrant and non-migrant labourers on cocoa farms in Ghana by adopting MPI approach. Also, we explored the factors affecting labourers' welfare.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 400 labourers was used. Qualitative and quantitative data were used. Quantile regression was used to investigate factors affecting labourers' deprivation in the different domains of non-monetary welfare.FindingsLabourers on cocoa farms are generally deprived in all the welfare indicators. Apart from having low education, labourers were underfed and lived under poor conditions. Though both migrants and non-migrants were multidimensionally poor, welfare of the later was higher than the former. Welfare of migrants and non-migrants on cocoa farms are influenced by similar factors: secondary occupation, income, credit accessibility, nature of contract and distance to social amenities.Research limitations/implicationsFor migrants, permanent status improves welfare. To improve labourers' welfare for enhanced productivity, cocoa farmers should provide permanent/long-term contracts for labourers and government should provide social amenities in cocoa-producing communities.Originality/valueMost previous welfare studies focused on farmers, with little attention paid to welfare of labourers on cocoa farms. We examined and compared the factors that affect migrant and non-migrant labourers' welfare on cocoa farms in Ghana. Moreover, we adopted the MPI (non-monetary) approach to assess labourers' welfare, instead of the expenditure and income approaches prevalent in literature.

Fermented Cocoa Beans (Theobroma cacao L) in Southeast Aceh District

One of the productions of the agricultural industry that has a fairly high foreign exchange value for our country is cocoa, but our cocoa production is still of low quality. To get good quality cocoa, good processing must be done. Fermentation of cocoa beans is one way to improve the quality of cocoa so that it can be sold in national and international markets. The purpose of this activity is to help cocoa farmers, especially in Southeast Aceh district, in improving the quality of cocoa production, so that the cocoa products of Southeast Aceh farmers can compete in trade both locally and abroad. The implementation of this activity is carried out through training to improve the quality of cocoa. There are several activities, namely: Sorting Cocoa, peeling cocoa pods, fermenting cocoa pods for 5 days and the last step is drying until the moisture content of cocoa pods reaches 7%. The result of this activity is to increase the knowledge of cocoa farmers in Southeast Aceh Regency in order to improve the quality of cocoa beans, so that cocoa sales can be accepted and compete in the market.

Profile of migrants for cocoa production and agronomic characteristics of cocoa farms in Western Côte d'Ivoire

The mountainous relief of the West of Côte d'Ivoire and the large savannahs next to forests didn’t make this zone very excellent for cocoa production. However, for the last decade, an important influx of farming population has been observed in this area. The objective of this study is to analyze the dynamics of the settlement of migrant farmers in the West region of Côte d’Ivoire, using the department of Biankouma as a case of study. So, individual surveys were conducted among 203 cocoa farmers from 15 villages in the department of Biankouma, who had migrated to this region, It was found that the majority of these farmers are natives of Côte d'Ivoire (38.3%) and non-natives (33.5%) from countries in the West Africa region. The migratory flow to this region is mainly internal, with 95.6% of farmers coming from 11 Districts and 55 localities in the country. While initially (i.e., before 1985), farmers came from towns near Duékoué (11.8%), these waves of movement from towns in neighboring districts (Bas-Sassandra and Sassandra-Marahoué) to the Western Region will experience their highest rates between 2002 and 2013. Observations drawn from our research findings support the hypothesis that the political-military crisis that the country has experienced has accentuated migratory flows of farmers for cocoa production in western Côte d'Ivoire and these migratory flows could be the cause of the degradation of forest cover in the Biankouma Department.

Exploring Barriers to Agroforestry Adoption by Cocoa Farmers in South-Western Côte d’Ivoire

Agroforestry is part of the package of good agricultural practices (GAPs) referred to as a reference to basic environmental and operational conditions necessary for the safe, healthy, and sustainable production of cocoa. Furthermore, cocoa agroforestry is one of the most effective nature-based solutions to address global change including land degradation, nutrient depletion, climate change, biodiversity loss, food and nutrition insecurity, and rural poverty and current cocoa supply chain issues. This study was carried out in South-Western Côte d’Ivoire through a household survey to assess the willingness of cocoa farmers to adopt cocoa agroforestry, a key step towards achieving sustainability in the cocoa supply chain markedly threatened by all types of biophysical and socio-economic challenges. In total, 910 cocoa households were randomly selected and individually interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Findings revealed that from the overwhelming proportion of farmers practicing full-sun cocoa farming with little or no companion trees associated, 50.2 to 82.1% were willing to plant and to keep fewer than 20 trees per ha in their farms for more than 20 years after planting. The most preferred trees provide a range of ecosystem services, including timber and food production, as well as shade regulation. More than half of the interviewed households considered keeping in their trees in their plantations for more than 20 years subject to the existence of a formal contract to protect their rights and tree ownership. This opinion is significantly affected by age, gender, access to seedlings of companion trees and financial resources. A bold step forward towards transitioning to cocoa agroforestry and thereby agroecological intensification lies in (i) solving the issue of land tenure and tree ownership by raising awareness about the new forest code and, particularly, the understanding of cocoa agroforestry, (ii) highlighting the added value of trees in cocoa lands, and (iii) facilitating access to improved cocoa companion tree materials and incentives. Trends emerged from this six-year-old study about potential obstacles likely to impede the adoption of agroforestry by cocoa farmers meet the conclusions of several studies recently rolled out in the same region for a sustainable cocoa sector, thereby confirming that not only the relevance of this work but also its contribution to paving the way for the promotion of agroecological transition in cocoa farming.

Modelling Annual Cocoa Production Using ARIMA Time Series Model

Cocoa is the most valuable tropical agricultural commodity, comes next to oil; a major target in Nigeria’s export diversification strategies. Cocoa production forecasting is important to the Nigerian agricultural transformation agenda. This study attempts to forecast Nigerian cocoa production between 2019 and 2025 using the ARIMA model. The automated analytical procedure implemented in the R software package indicated that ARIMA (0, 1, 1) is the combination with the least Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC) and hence, the most appropriate for forecasting. The results revealed that cocoa production would fall by more than 20% in 2025 in comparison with 2018. Thus, to guard against the fall, cocoa farmers in the country should be incentivized through adequate financial and technical assistance.