Caboz Action News

Covid 19

Our staff in the field, Fulbert and Lydie, already started in mid March raising awareness about Covid 19 in the cocoa villages where CABOZ Action is active. Since then the virus has spread from Abidjan to other areas in the country. The government has introduced stricter regulations on maximum group sizes and is promoting social distancing and hand washing. Lydie and Fulbert now routinely give up-to-date information and demonstrate careful handwashing as part of their courses for young people in the villages. We hope that, by raising awareness and explaining the prevention measures early, we will help to prevent Covid spreading to the cocoa villages. The Jacobs Foundation has generously supported us in extending the Covid 19 prevention campaign to a total of 44 villages.

Youth Farmer Field Schools (YFFS) + Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) + Gender Sensibilisation

Youth Farmer Field Schools (YFFS) + Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) + Gender Sensibilisation

This 2-year project, jointly funded by CABOZ and the Jacobs Foundation, got off to a good start in January 2020. Nearly 300 young people (15-35 years old) in ten different villages were selected to participate in a training programme with the objective to support them in setting up income-generating projects in their local communities. So far the VSLAs have raised nearly CHF 5000 (CFA 3 million) to start their business projects, which include processing cassava, selling eggs and producing maize. The gender sensibilisation part of the project has been delayed by the Corona crisis as travel has been restricted, but women have been actively encouraged to participate in the project.

Here they are with one of the youth groups in Duekoué at a meeting to discuss the VSLA savings scheme. Note the large cash-box on the table!

YFFS youth group in Bähé Sebon with cash-box.
Back row: 2nd from left = Lydie, our project manager in the Duekoué region, 3rd from left = Joel, Vice-President CABOZ Action 

Schoggi Festival in April

We were planning to have a stand at the first festival for sustainable chocolate in Switzerland, but since this couldn’t take place, the organisers suggested make short videos. Here is what CABOZ Action’s President, Silvia Dingwall, had to say:

 https://youtu.be/S6yulRIWfvA

January 2021

As in 2020, Braida Thom spent January 2021 in Soubré to evaluate the CABOZ project ‘Village Cocoa Competence Centres’ in the cocoa villages on behalf of ETH Zurich in a project partly financed by SECO. The first results of the evaluation show that farmers who cooperate with CABOZ generally trust the cocoa buyers more than those who do not cooperate with CABOZ. The impact of the central fermentation plant should become clearer in the near future.

Braida also visited the drinking water systems again and analysed their water quality with Fulbert, who is responsible for CABOZ Action in Soubré. To increase the sense of local ownership for the drinking water systems and to reduce dependence on CABOZ Action for maintaining them, we have set up water committees to take care of them.

Annual reports