This project aims to solve two important issues in the production of cocoa beans in Central and West Africa: it improves their quality by better drying and fermentation, and it reduces the quantity of fire-wood used to dry beans. By relying on renewable energy to dry beans, we eliminate an important fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the cocoa production chain.

The result of our approach and technology is smoke-free, high-quality cocoa with a low environmental footprint.

Our beans are marketed by a network of women-owned micro-enterprises in Cameroon's South-West Region, São Tomé and Bioko Sur in Equatorial Guinea. Given that our beans fetch higher prices, both cocoa farmers and the women who manage the drying and fermentation centres, benefit.

The green cocoa project is funded by the African Development Bank and the Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF), as it eliminates an important pressure on the forest resource in cocoa-growing regions of the Congo Basin.