Press Release

Creating Opportunities for Ivorian Cocoa Producers: CNFA-Implemented MOCA Initiative Launches Activities in Abengourou, Daloa and Soubré

Events will improve partners’ understanding and increase MOCA’s regional visibility

WASHINGTON, D.C. Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA), an international agricultural development organization, announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded Maximizing Opportunities in Cocoa Activity (MOCA), a three-year initiative implemented by CNFA to strengthen Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa sector, will officially launch activities in three Ivorian cocoa-producing regions.

December 11, 13 and 14, 2018, Abengourou, Daloa and Soubré, the departmental cities of the Nawa, Haut-Sassandra and Indénié-Duablin cocoa-producing regions where MOCA has a local presence, will host the ceremonies for the official launch of MOCA’s activities.

“MOCA is excited to start with the implementation of the project with selected cooperatives and partners in the three regions. We see a lot of potential to build upon past initiatives to further support the cocoa sector in the three regions to the benefit of cocoa farmers,” said Marc Steen, Chief of Party at MOCA.

MOCA, funded by USDA’s Food for Progress program, works to increase the quality and availability of the production and inputs, improve harvesting and post-harvest handling, facilitate trade relations, and strengthen producers to better meet the international market demand.

The event will bring together regional stakeholders from the Ivorian cocoa sector to present the objectives of the project and the general strategy for achieving MOCA’s objectives. Participants will have the opportunity to interact with the project’s management team to understand the implementation stages of the project as well as the different components of MOCA.

MOCA is expecting 200 participants over the three events, including the U.S. Embassy and Conseil Café Cacao representatives, local authorities, partnering cooperatives, agroleaders and financial institutions.

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CNFA: The MOCA project is implemented in Côte d’Ivoire by Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA), an international agricultural development organization that specializes in designing sustainable, market-led agricultural initiatives. CNFA builds strong local and global partnerships, incorporates innovative approaches in its programs, and fosters inclusive development to offer enhanced opportunities to under-served groups. Since 1985, CNFA has managed more than $600 million in donor-funded agriculture development programs and has worked in 44 countries across the world in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and South and Central Asia.