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.
