Ivory Coast has launched a programme aimed at improving cocoa quality, which has fallen dramatically, the countrys cocoa chief said on Friday. "Ten years ago poor quality cocoa represented 5 percent (of cocoa exports) but now it is more than 17 percent," said Gilbert Ano NGuessan, who heads the cocoa sector management committee in the worlds biggest grower.
"The fact that we are known as a producer of poor quality is a blow to us, and it impacts upon prices paid to producers. Its for that reason that we must improve the quality of our cocoa," he told journalists.
The programme, known as "Quantity, Quality and Growth" will involve educating farmers about new production methods and plantation maintanance, and building better roads in cocoa-growing areas. Ivory Coasts 2008/09 main crop harvest, which ends this month, has been seriously disrupted by bad weather, disease and administrative chaos. Exporters have repeatedly voiced concern about poor bean quality.
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