Cocoa consultant predicts increase in cocoa prices
STAFF and students were fortunate to listen to a very
informative talk on Cocoa World Prices by International Marketing Specialist
and author, Grant Vinning on Tuesday (July 31) this week.
Mr Vinning, who has worked
for the last 10 years in cocoa market development in Solomon Islands, Vanuatu,
Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, particularly Bougainville, discussed how prices
are determined and their likely future directions.
Predicting
an increase in world cocoa prices in the future, he said prices are
influenced by the performance of the cocoa sector in two West African nations -
Ivory Coast and Ghana. These two countries alone supply 60 percent of the
world's cocoa.
Mr Vinning said the price was likely to increase because of
the challenges presently faced by the West African cocoa farmers such as aging
trees, aging farmers, lack of new land, government involvement, the cocoa
swollen-shoot virus that decreases cocoa yield and harmattan. Harmattan is a
very dry, dusty easterly or north-easterly wind on the West African coast,
occurring from December to February.
He said the increase in prices would be good for cocoa
growers in Pacific nations.
Mr Vinning has a M.Econ (Qual) from the University of
Queensland and a M.A (Public Administration) from Carleton University,
Ottawa. He has extensive experience in the marketing of agricultural
products from countries in the Pacific and Asia as part of improving the
livelihoods of producers.
Following his talk, he presented a copy
of his book Cocoa in the Pacific: The
first 50 years to the University’s Department of Agriculture.
Head of department Peter Navus who
received the book thanked Mr Vinning for his donation saying the book would be put
to good use in student lectures.
Cocoa
in the Pacific: The first 50 years traces
how cocoa was introduced into Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands,
and Vanuatu. It explores where the original genetic material came from and some
of the issues that the pioneers faced. Several issues persist today: labour
shortages, adapting to the unique environment of the Pacific, the development
of locally-adapted genetic material, and distance to major markets. In tracing
the introduction of cocoa into the five countries, the book explores some of
the approaches of the four colonial powers. This makes it as much a history of
the five countries as a history of cocoa in the region.
Mr Vinning has also done a great deal of
work on value chains with products such as wool in Pakistan and mangoes in
Cambodia.
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| International marketing consultant Grant Vinning (left) presents a copy of his book to Head of the University's Agriculture Department Peter Navus. |
