Palm | Kelapa Sawit

agriculture commodities - how to reduce residue of pesticide in the african cocoa: African Cocoa Producers discuss ways of reducing pesticide residues. Representatives of African cocoa producing countries are meeting in a four-day regional workshop named “COCOA SPS AFRICA” in Yaounde. The workshop that also grouped representatives from Europe, the United States of America and Japan has been organised to examine concerns regarding the health risks associated with the use of pesticides in cocoa production.

Risks which have provoked some countries to enact sanitary and phyto-sanitary, legislature and regulatory measures to stop importing cocoa beans with pesticide residues and other harmful substances.

The workshop has been organised by the International Cocoa Organisation, ICCO, with funding from the Standards and Trade Development Facility, STDF to build the capacities of African cocoa producing countries to mitigate the harmful effects of pesticide residues in cocoa and to maintain market access.

The Managing Director of the National Cocoa and Coffee Board, NCCB, Michael Ndoping, during his welcome address indicated that the workshop is very important for Cameroon because about 98 percent of the country’s cocoa is shipped to Europe.