One of ETG’s key strategies in helping to facilitate sustainable cocoa ecosystems is protecting native forests. In order to effectively know where deforestation is a pronounced risk, we utilise a tool known as a deforestation risk assessment.
Category Archives: Projects
From Slash-and-Burn to Sustainable: How Biochar is Changing Cocoa Farming in Côte d’Ivoire
ETG | Beyond Beans is preparing to run pilot projects to test the applicability of biochar in live field sites. Our ultimate goal is to expand this project to circularise coffee projects in Uganda, cashew projects in Mozambique, and cocoa projects in Côte d’Ivoire, thereby reducing waste, providing carbon insetting, and minimising the environmental impact of the agricultural sector.
ETG One-Stop
ETG has released an app called “ETG One Stop Solution” to provide farmers with one-click expert advice without the need for travel. More than 16,000 farmers from 8 countries have been using these apps to get immediate help from an agri-expert, access to an agricultural knowledge base, doorstep service, and ongoing guidance throughout the croppingContinue reading “ETG One-Stop”
Cocoaching
Countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria For the past decade, Farmer Field Schools (FFS), conducted in groups of 15-20, have been the main source of trainings for smallholder farmers over the past decade. Although FFS trainings have helped many farmers develop more sustainable farming practices, the adoption rates of those practices are often low, even belowContinue reading “Cocoaching”
Rent-a-Tractor
Country: Tanzania Of the 44.76 million hectares of agriculture land in Tanzania, 14.5 million hectares is cultivated. About 8-10% of this (approximately 1.5 million hectares) is under farm mechanisation. However smallholder farmers cultivate between 0.2 and 2.0 ha each, with low levels of mechanisation. Meanwhile, there are approximately 20,000 tractors in working condition in Tanzania.Continue reading “Rent-a-Tractor”
FIRCAM
Country: Cameroon Our FIRCAM project (FIRCAM: building the Financial Resilience of Cameroonian cocoa farmers) is providing training for 1,300 farmers on better agricultural, social and environmental practices, setting up an agri-input loan fund, establishing cocoa nurseries and launching 10 VSLA-GALS groups with a focus on women empowerment. Together, these interventions are increasing and diversify farmers’Continue reading “FIRCAM”
Cocoa Juice
Country: Ghana Our cocoa juice project is working to turn the juice from the cocoa fruit into a commercially viable product that can help rural farming communities generate an additional income stream. The project is already raising farmers’ incomes by 10%, with potential to reach 30% once the project is fully upscaled. A typical cocoaContinue reading “Cocoa Juice”
ASASE
Country: Ghana Our Accessible Soils And Sustainable Environments (ASASE) project is working towards an environmentally sustainable future for the cocoa sector, tackling deforestation and working to rehabilitate ageing cocoa farms and restore natural forests. Using a landscape approach, the ASASE project moves away from the traditional focus on the direct supply chain and instead intervenesContinue reading “ASASE”
VSLA-CHILD
Country: Ghana VSLA-CHILD uses a bottom-up, community driven approach to address the underlying reasons behind child labour in the cocoa sector, with a focus on income-generating activities, awareness raising, and gender empowerment at the household level. VSLAs are community-based groups made up of 15-30 individuals who come together to collectively save a small portion of their incomes,Continue reading “VSLA-CHILD”
Cookstoves
Country: Côte d’Ivoire In Côte d’Ivoire, Beyond Beans aims to stimulate the commercial distribution of improved cookstoves to support forest conservation and the livelihoods of farming communities. These stoves significantly decrease household air pollution, help households save on fuel expenditure, and they reduced time spent collecting firewood, especially in instances of child labour. The project,Continue reading “Cookstoves”