ICCC to professionalize cocoa-coffee producer organizations

The process of professionalization of cocoa-coffee producer organizations in Cameroon was launched at Ayos on August 11.

In the Cameroonian economic capital, the Interprofessional Council for Cocoa and Coffee (ICCC) proceeded to sign the framework agreements with four producer organizations, "for the purpose of transforming them into economically viable entities.”

Fifteen co-operatives will be integrated in the program during this campaign.

Sources revealed that these four cooperatives (Cocoa + of Ayos, Socoopapal, Camagrob and Socoopanyk) were chosen on the basis of their current level of structuring and organization was considered relatively interesting by the umbrella organisation.

They include approximately 6000 producers and with a recorded cumulative production of 6125 tons of cocoa during the last campaign.

According to Omer Gatien Malédy, the Executive Secretary of the ICCC, the process launched on August 11 in Douala is to accompany these cooperatives, through the implementation of the battery of structuring programs coordinated by the ICCC for 3 years now.

These include the programme entitled 'Good practice', which aims to improve the quality of production which led to certification of ‘New generation’, whose objective is to engage the youth in the cocoa and coffee sectors. Purc-café, which aims to rejuvenate the coffee Orchard, supports the Organization of marketing (AOC) with the facilitation of access to finance through the guarantee fund set up by the ICCC. This is for the advancement of the transformation with the Transfol program and the promotion of the Cameroon label through Festicacao and Festicoffee.

Meanwhile, the ICC outlined that this range of activities will not unfold at same time but will be launched according to the different levels of organization and capacity for ownership of the recipient cooperatives.

The agreements signed between the ICC and the cooperatives gave specification for a monitoring and evaluation mechanism in a log book,” said Mr. Lema, the Director of operations of the ICCC.