Nestlé: ensuring the right fertiliser is applied to cocoa soils

Historically, the production of cocoa in Cote d'Ivoire has increased but this has been done primarily through forest encroachment rather than by promoting improved yields on existing land.

There is therefore a growing need to focus on a fertiliser to regenerate soil fertility and avoid expanding cocoa plantations into forested land. For a number of years farmers have not invested in fertiliser and productivity has remained low. This has been a consequence of high input costs, poor understanding on what fertiliser to use on what soil and a difficulty in giving tailored advice to farmers. Today, Nestlé is working with the World Cocoa Foundation 'CocoaAction' strategy, which has a workstream led by IDH (Sustainable Trade Initiative) on understanding soil fertility and how to increase fertiliser usage to subsequently improve farmer income.