INDONESIA AIMS TO BECOME WORLD'S LARGEST COCOA PRODUCER by Fardah

 Jakarta, Nov 7, 2014 (Antara) - Indonesia, currently the world's third-largest cocoa producer after Ivory Coast and Ghana, is leaving no stone unturned to become the global leader in cocoa production in the next three years.

        This ambition was recently revealed during the visit of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to Sulawesi, which is one of the country's major cocoa producers. 
    Jokowi urged the cocoa farmers to work harder, so that the country could surpass Ivory Coast and Ghana, the two African countries that have been the world's first- and second-largest cocoa producers.

         Africa accounts for 70 percent of the global cocoa production, with Indonesia being the largest producer outside Africa.

         President Jokowi pledged that his government will allocate Rp1.2 trillion for the revitalization of the country's cocoa plantations in a bid to support the country's vision to become the world's largest cocoa producer. 
    "Commencing 2015, the revitalization is expected to take three to four years," the head of state informed the cocoa farmers in Saletto, Mamuju District, West Sulawesi, on Thursday (Nov. 6).

          To support the plan, the president called on Minister of Agrarian Affairs Ferry Mursidan to immediately streamline the certification process for the people working in cocoa plantations.

           Sulawesi, especially West Sulawesi, is the country's largest cocoa production center, which accounts for around 75 percent of Indonesia's total cocoa production.

         Other main regions of cocoa production include North Sumatra, West Java, Papua, and East Kalimantan.

         Around 90 percent of Indonesia's cocoa output is produced by smallholders who lack the necessary financial resources to optimize their production capacity, thereby resulting in declining production due to aging trees, diseases, flooding, and other such problems.

          Jokowi revealed his plan to invite banks to offer credit financing for promoting the development of cocoa plantations and would also urge the cocoa industry to invest in cocoa-producing regions to offer added value.    

    He said he would encourage the development of the cocoa-processing industry in cocoa production centers. 
    Earlier, the Indonesian Association of Cocoa Industry (AIKI) expressed enthusiasm to the support shown by the government to revive the program of the Cocoa National Movement (Gernas).

         The visit by President Jokowi to the Gernas cocoa land in Mamuju reflected the government's support, he stated. 
     "We appreciate the interest shown by President Joko Widodo and his cabinet to develop the cocoa sector, especially with the plan to revive the Cocoa Gernas program," AIKI General Chairman Piter Jasman noted in a statement on (Nov. 5), 2014.

         He explained that the Cocoa Gernas program, which was launched for the first time in 2009, aims to boost the quality and production of the commodity.

          The Cocoa Gernas program's role is important as the cocoa processing industry in the country has grown rapidly while the nation's production of cocoa beans has shown a decline, he noted.

          According to him, in the past four years, the production capacity of the country's cocoa processing industry has increased 183 percent from 150 thousand tons in 2010 to 425 thousand tons in 2014.

          The production of processed cocoa, however, is expected to reach only 400 thousand tons, unless concrete steps are taken, including the revival of Gernas, he pointed out.

         "Failure to take anticipatory steps could result in Indonesia becoming a net importer of cocoa beans," he warned.       
    He said if the government adopts serious measures for the existing plantation areas of 1.7 million hectares, and the productivity is raised by a ton per hectare a year, Indonesia could then become the world's largest cocoa producer, thereby relegating the Ivory Coast and Ghana.

        "Hopefully, under the new government, the vision of Indonesia as the world's largest cacao producer could become a reality," he affirmed. 
    Meanwhile, a cocoa processing factory needs to be set up in the West Sulawesi province to help optimize the incomes derived from the people's cocoa plantations.

          "The West Sulawesi provincial administration hopes that the government of President Joko Widodo will build a cocoa processing factory in the province," West Sulawesi Governor Anwar Adnan Saleh remarked in Mamuju, on (Nov. 5), 2014.

          He noted that the provincial administration had, since long, planned to build a cocoa processing factory costing around Rp100 billion, but it has, so far, failed to implement the plan due to budget limitations.

          West Sulawesi is the country's largest cocoa producing province, with a total production of 140 thousand tons per year and having 185 thousand hectares of plantations.

        "Sulawesi contributes around 72 percent to the country's total production of cacao beans, and West Sulawesi alone accounts for 24 percent," the governor stated.

        The livelihood of around 64 percent of West Sulawesi's population depends on cocoa farming.

        Cocoa bean is one of the most important agricultural export products of Indonesia. In the past 25 years, the Indonesian cocoa sector has experienced enormous growth, driven by rapid expansion of smallholder farmer participation.

         The government initiated a five-year cocoa revitalization program in 2009 to boost production through intensification, rehabilitation, and rejuvenation activities, covering a total area of 450 thousand hectares.

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(F001/INE/o001)