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DEVELOPMENT OF COCOA FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN RURAL AREAS OF VIETNAM
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| Company:
Saigon Biotech Products, Ltd , Duc trong, Lam dong, Vietnam
(SBP) Contact Person: Professor Nguyen Van Uyen, (84) 8 -8421596 nguyenvanuyen@hcm.vnn.vn Website: http://www.saigonbiotech.com The Location of the Project: Central Highland of Vietnam, Boloven Highland of Laos and NorthEast Cambodia . Total Estimated Project Cost: $850 Million US Dollars Summary of the Company: SPB is a private company, established by a group of scientists and economists aiming at turning biotechnology potential into economic realities in Vietnam. Our scope of activities include reforestation, CO 2 sequestrind by green plants, biological methods for pests and diseases control and ecological and sustainable agricultural production. SBP has strong links with Universities and Research Institutes all over the countries and get favorable supports of central and provincial authorities to carry out its Projects. Our on going activities include: - Production of high quality, virus free planting material ( coffee, banana, orchids, fruit crops, forest crops) by tissue culture; - Production and use of immuno products for control of shrimp white spot virus syndrome; - Production and commercialisation of fungal and bacterial pesticides; and - Cocoa in an agro-forestry system for small holders. The company employs a strong staff of scientists that make solid bridges with knowledge centers in the country as well as in the region. Vision of the Company: Cocoa is a perennial plant best suited to be intercropped with shading trees (coconut, cashew, fruit trees, forest trees, etc.). Cocoa plants thrive under these shades and bear ample pods after two years. In the last 20 years, world demand in cocoa keeps increasing at the rate of 2-3% per year. World cocoa production, on the other hand, is decreasing due to three factors: 1. Political instability in West African cocoa producers (represent 60% of world cocoa); 2. Fungal diseases in Brazil; and 3. Dramatic shift from cocoa farm to oil palm farm in Malaysia. Unit price of this commodity has doubled comparing with that of 3 years ago. Cocoa is an unique commodity crop that could intercrop favorably with existing trees, forming a dense canopy. On sloping land, such an intercropping is the best way to prevent soil erosion, thus supporting sustainable soil fertility. In Vietnam, deforestation in the last 50 years has turned half of its land into bare and waste land. Consequently, serious natural disasters (drought and flooding) have become increasingly frequent. An ambitious national reforestation program on 5 million hectares has been launched by the Vietnam government, in which cocoa would be one of the best commodity crops for agro -forestry systems. Processing cocoa beans into exportable product is done by simple fermentation, which can be carried out readily at farmer's level. The exportable product is sun-dried beans which could be stored conveniently. When cocoa production reaches a critical size, say 100,000 tons per year, local production of added value products such as cocoa butter, liquor and chocolates, using established, modern technology could be projected. World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) and other funding agencies are supporting several tropical countries to develop cocoa to meet the increasing demand in cocoa on the world market. Summary of the Project: 1. Development of small-scale Cocoa plantations in a sustainable, agro-forestry system on 200,000 hectares ( Vietnam: 100,000 ha, Cambodia: 50,000 ha, Laos: 50,000 ha) The Project aims at total yearly production of 300,000 tons (valued at 480 Millions USD) of dry cocoa beans on 200,000 ha of land of the Central Highland of Vietnam, the poorest economic region of Vietnam., Boloven Highland of Laos and the NorthEast provinces of Cambodia. Climate and soil studies have shown these regions are particularly suitable for cocoa. Seventy percent (70%) of the export value will go directly to the income of approximately 200,000 farmer’s families involved in the Project. The cocoa under shading of rapid growing forest crops (like Paulownia) would prevent soil erosion and improves soil fertility, replacing the actual monoculture of cassava and water-deficient coffee. Subproject A:
Organisation of cocoa cooperative network based on existing
village system . Cocoa farm 1-2 ha in size would be run by a family.
15-20 small farms would form a cooperative, in which fermentation and
sun drying would be performed. Subproject B:
High quality Planting Material Preparation (Hybrid cocoa seeds). Subproject C: Agro-forestry Technical School and Extention Services network. Project 1 Estimated Cost: $ 700 million USD 2. Establishment of Cocoa Processing and Buying System from farmers' gardens to exporting ships Subproject A:
The cocoa bean flow from farmers' field to large-scale exporter
includes simple processing and drying in farmers' cooperative (using
sun dryers), to middle buyers having larger facilities for cleaning,
drying and grading. From this point, the flow would be directed into
two directions: 1. dry beans export by cocoa trading companies; and 2. processing cocoa beans into cocoa butter, cocoa powder and/or chocolate for added valued products. Subproject B: The
Projects would establish 3 cocoa processing factories. Each factory has
processing capacity up to 20,000 tons of bean
annually to
produce high quality chocolate and cocoa related products. Machinery
and expertise of european countries (Belgium) should be used
extensively. Total Project Funding Request: $850 Million US Dollars |