Bittersweet. Exporting cacao beans for a living (S7 - Ep2)

Cocoa is an important export crop for West African countries. Yet, many of the smallholder cocoa farmers struggle to earn a decent livelihood. Assata Doumbia, president of the ECAM cooperative in Côte d'Ivoire, applies a mix of strategies to obtain higher and more predictable incomes for her fellow farmers. The cooperative works with trusted international partners, invests in improving productivity and enables women to join the workforce. Assata even tackles the challenge of moving up the cocoa value chain through a cacao-processing business. In this podcast episode, she is joined by Kobby Bandoh, Economic Affairs Officer in the Agriculture and Commodities Division of the WTO.