Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, visited the Nestlé R&D Centre in Abidjan last week for an insight on Nestlé’s commitment to sustainability in cocoa.
Accompanied by Klaus Zimmermann, Senior Vice President R&D, and Serigne Diop, Head of R&D Centre, Abidjan, Mr Zoellick observed the activities of cocoa nurseries and took part in a discussion with farmers at the Centre.
Mr Zoellick was impressed that a global company like Nestlé was working with local producers to help make products of a global standard. He added that it was encouraging to see local jobs created and emphasised the importance of connecting global and local.
The Centre, which was inaugurated nine months ago, focuses on improving the quality of locally-sourced raw materials, including cocoa, coffee and cassava. In addressing the problem of disease and ageing plantations affecting the West African cocoa harvest, Nestlé has transferred its propagation technology to the site in Abidjan from its R&D Centre in Tours, France.
The plant science activities are part of the CHF 110 million group-wide initiative
The Cocoa Plan, which was launched last October. The plan is an important and significant part of broad, collaborative efforts to improve the cocoa supply chain and the lives of cocoa farmers and communities. This includes improving the quantity and quality of yields by providing 12 million stronger productive plantlets to farmers over the next ten years and teaching farmers more efficient farming methods.
Subscribe