The Wall Street Journal-20080129-Cadbury to Aid Growers Of Cocoa to Bolster Yields

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Cadbury to Aid Growers Of Cocoa to Bolster Yields

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Associated Press

ACCRA, Ghana -- Cadbury Schweppes PLC said it will spend millions of dollars during the next few years to increase cocoa yields and to improve the lives of farmers -- moves intended to guarantee a long- term supply of the most important ingredient in the company's candy.

The British confectioner's investment will affect an estimated one million cocoa farmers located primarily in Ghana, but also in India, Indonesia and the Caribbean.

Cadbury-funded research by the University of Sussex, in England, and the University of Accra has shown that average production for a cocoa farmer has dropped to 40% of potential yield and that cocoa farming has become less attractive to the next potential generation of farmers, the company said.

The money Cadbury plans to spend on schools, libraries and wells is intended to attract the next generation to 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, the company will invest nearly $2 million to establish the cocoa partnership, including $1.2 million to build 850 wells, Matt Shattock, a Cadbury regional president, said at a news conference. By 2010, annual funding will rise to $9.9 million.

"This program will encourage the next generation to be interested in cocoa production," said Daouda Toure, the local representative of the United Nations Development Program, which is working with Cadbury on the effort.

Cadbury's investment comes as U.S. and European companies have faced heavy criticism for their business practices in developing countries.

British charity Oxfam has accused U.S. 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 increase production using sustainable practices.