Our members' project

in Côte d'Ivoire

PRO-PLANTEURS is a joint project of the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (GISCO), the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Ivorian Coffee-Cocoa Council (Conseil du Café-Cacao). The German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (GISCO) is an association of the German confectionery industry, the German food retail trade and civil society organisations as well as the German government, represented by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). PRO-PLANTEURS contributes to the implementation of the national cocoa strategy of Côte d'Ivoire, 2QC (Quantité - Qualité - Croissance), and the CocoaAction strategy of the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF).

In the project period 2015 to 2025, PRO-PLANTEURS seeks to professionalise 30,000 family farmers and their cocoa farmer organisations in Côte d'Ivoire. The project also aims to provide opportunities for women, in par-ticular, to achieve a better income and a better food basis for their families in order to have a positive impact on their living conditions.  After a successful first phase, a five-year follow-up phase began in June 2020. The project progress of PRO-PLANTEURS is regularly monitored and adjusted if necessary.


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The Project PRO-PLANTEURS

In June 2020, the project PRO-PLANTEURS entered another five-year follow-up phase and will continue to be jointly financed by the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa, the German government and the Ivorian government. Time to take a look at the first project phase (06/2015 - 05/2020).

In the first phase of the project from 2015 to 2020, the project worked with 35 farmer organisations in the regions of Abengourou, Aboisso and Agboville. PRO-PLANTEURS trained 140 managers of the farmers' or-ganisations to make them more professional. In the second phase, more organisations of cocoa farmers in the regions of Yamoussoukro and Divo will be included in the project.

Matching Fund PRO-PLANTEURS - Strengthening the cooperation between members of the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (GISCO) and PRO-PLANTEURS

The Matching Fund PRO-PLANTEURS supports the members of the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa in the implementation of their activities regarding a sustainable cocoa sector. The joint projects contribute to the goals of GISCO and those of PRO-PLANTEURS. In the projects, members develop solutions with their local partners for the existing challenges in the cocoa sector: poverty of cocoa farmers, child labour and deforestation.

Projects of the Matching Fund PRO-PLANTEURS

ProjectRegionDurationFundingTarget groupMembers involved
Household Income Accelerator/IAP
Aboisso, Tomodi3 years2,5 Mio EUR1000 producersCargill and Nestlé
Improving the resilience of cocoa-producing households and their communities
Cavally, Montagnes3 years521.000 EUR600 producersCargill and Ritter Sport
Ending child labour in cocoa-producing communities and improving the social and economic status of young people
Divo, Abengourou, Aboisso, Agboville2 years293.000 EUR10.000 producersSolidaridad andMondelēz

ProjectRegionDurationFundingTarget groupMembers involved
Strengthening the entrepreneurial and financial skills of cooperative leaders
/12 months114.000 EUR30 cooperativesofi 
Strenghtening Fairtrade cocoa cooperatives through integrated data management
/15 months146.000 EUR26 cooperativesFairtrade International
An Integrated Approach to Address Cocoa-Driven Deforestation and Protect the Environment
San Pédro13 months304.000 EUR500 producersSCHOKINAG
Promoting a holistic and innovative approach to combat deforestation and climate change, and improve producer incomes
Nawa, Cavaly, Grand Ponts13 months236.000 EUR8.500 producersFerrero 
Community Services Groups for Agroforestry
/15 months260.000 EUR4.000 producersMondelēz and ofi
Portraitfoto von Alida N'Takpe-Coulibaly

“I encourage women to take an interest in agriculture, to take an active role in cocoa production and to assert themselves as producers. ”

Alida N'Takpe-Coulibaly

President of the SCOOP-RASSO cooperative

Learn more

PRO-PLANTEURS and its project activities have four main subjects:

All farmer organisations working with PRO-PLANTEURS run a 12-month programme of training and counselling to strengthen their management and improve access to finance. PRO-PLANTEURS also offers customised events, training and activities to support the organisations in further professionalising and expanding their services to members. These include the introduction of digital payment methods or the training of young people as workers in cocoa cultivation, who support the farmers, e.g. in plant protection.

PRO-PLANTEURS supports cocoa farmers through training and direct advice. In order to improve the income of the families, the participants in the project learn methods to develop their often traditionally managed farms into professional small businesses. In the Farmer Business School training, for example, the farmers learn to manage expenses and income and to make calculations on profitability.
Smallholder farms that do not grow only one crop, i.e. that diversify cultivation, are more resilient to price and harvest fluctuations. Moreover, cocoa and other cash crops should not completely displace the cultivation of vegetables and other crops for subsistence in order to ensure food security throughout the year. For this reason, the project focuses on imparting knowledge on benefits as well as good agricultural practices in the cultivation of vegetables and other food crops consumed in households. Awareness-raising on agroforestry systems contributes to climate change adaptation, and events on good nutrition practices contribute to a balanced diet for families.

Fulgence Ady Doffou

PRO-PLANTEURS offers GISCO members the opportunity to implement projects that contribute to the achievement of GISCO's objectives through a matching fund linked to the project and financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Projects can be proposed by GISCO members from the private sector and non-governmental organisations. The projects approved after the first call target more than 10,000 cocoa-producing households on the topics of living income, agroforestry, diversification and prevention of abusive child labour.

PRO-PLANTEURS supports dialogue and learning. The exchange of knowledge and innovations is particularly pro-moted in events in the various project regions. In this way, farmers' organisations become multipliers for information, innovations and good agricultural practice.

Downloads

Factsheet PRO-PLANTEURS

German

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Factsheet PRO-PLANTEURS FR

French

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Factsheet on the digital platform PRO-PLANTEURS

French

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Factsheet on the Matching Fund PRO-PLANTEURS

French

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Factsheet on training tools

French

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Factsheet on the professionalisation of cooperatives

French

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Factsheet on the selection process for the cooperatives’ training program

French

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Factsheet on income monitoring

French

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Factsheet on the PRO-PLANTEURS typology

French

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Factsheet on service units

French

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Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) 

Accompanying research on measures to achieve a living income for smallholders and increase sustainable cocoa production

French

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Working towards a living income for cocoa farmers: assessing selected strategies in Côte d’Ivoire

English

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Comprendre l'hétérogénéité des producteurs et leur potentiel de revenu décent : Typologie des plantations cacaoyères en Côte d'Ivoire

French

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Durabilité écologique des systèmes agroforestiers à base de cacao en Côte d’Ivoire : cas de 4 départements (Agboville, Divo, Yamoussoukro et Dimbokro)

French

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Ecological and social services of cocoa agroforestry systems to improve the livelihoods of farmers and sustainable cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire

English

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Évaluation de la durabilité socio-économique des systèmes agroforestiers. Un cas de cacaoculteurs du centre et du sud-est de la Côte d'Ivoire

French

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Évaluation des stratégies de diversification des exploitations agricoles pour l'amélioration des revenus et la production durable de cacao en Côte d'Ivoire

French

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Impacts agroécologiques des systèmes agroforestiers à base de cacao : Le cas de la Côte d'Ivoire

French

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Perceptions des ménages sur l’adoption des systèmes agroforestiers à base de cacaoyers en Côte d’Ivoire

French

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Améliorer le revenu des producteurs de cacao: évaluation de certaines stratégies sélectionnées en Côte d'Ivoire

French

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