STiR coffee and tea 43
crop, and other more remunerative crops
like rubber and fruit. But international
coffee companies like Nescafé would like
to increase their sourcing in Ivory Coast.
Promotion of better agricultural prac-
tices is the likeliest path toward elevating
the sector. Rainforest Alliance, in coop-
eration with Nescafé, has been training
coffee growers on how to rejuvenate
their farms through stumping as well as
improving application of fertilizer.
"There are many challenges facing
coffee production in Cote d' Ivoire but
the main ones are low productivity due
to the aging coffee plantations and cli-
mate change that is manifested by the
disruption of rain patterns," said Laeti-
tia Ohouo of Rainforest Alliance's Cote
d' Ivoire office.
In addition, because the existing
plantation yields are low, averaging be-
tween one 60-kg bag to 1 metric ton per
farm, some of the coffee farmers tend to
expand acreage under the crop by cutting
down trees.
"For these coffee farmers, a bigger
area translates to higher production but in
essence it leads to deforestation and inter-
ference of protected areas," said Ohouo.
