Development of novel value chain from cocoa pod husks in Indonesia: Technological, environmental and socio-economic challenges of a value chain

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Indonesia is the world's 3rd largest cocoa producer, producing around 400,000 tonnes pa of cocoa, primarily in small family farms, and this industry contributes ~14% to GDP. Cocoa farming is the main source of income for more than one million smallholder farmers and their families, therefore the economic and environmental sustainability of cocoa production is key for the long-term social and economic stability of farming communities. The sector though is facing significant technical and business challenges which lead to low farming productivities and consequently to low profitability for farmers. Despite a number of public-private initiatives over the last 8 years, significant changes are still needed to improve the sustainability of cocoa production and have an impact on farmers' welfare and economic stability. These include implementing best-known farming practices (e.g. efficient use of fertilisers and pesticides), developing approaches for the exploitation of by-products, improving post-harvesting techniques for cocoa beans, improving infrastructure and transportation, developing education and training programmes for farmers and promoting the development of farmers' co-operatives.The commercial exploitation of cocoa pod husks through their conversion to added-value products, such as biomaterials for food and non-food uses, is a promising strategy and a timely opportunity to address effectively and efficiently some of the sustainability issues of cocoa production. This is high up on the R&D agenda of our industrial partner (Mars Chocolate Ltd) and Indonesian government agencies. Currently, most farmers, after extracting the beans, leave the pod husks on cocoa plantations. This can return some nutrients to the soil (in the absence of any other fertiliser being used), but untreated pod husks can lead to increased pest and disease pressure from cocoa pod borer moth and black pod disease, thus decreasing the productivity of the farms. The aim of the project is to develop a novel value chain for cocoa pod husks which upon implementation will have an impact on the economic stability and welfare of cocoa farmers. The specific objectives are to: (i) elicit the willingness of farmers in Indonesia to adopt the proposed practice changes and assess how these might be aligned with farmers' preferences; (ii) develop scalable process designs for the efficient fractionation of cocoa pod husks into non-soluble fibre, soluble fibre and lignin fractions; (iii) identify and evaluate value-adding applications for such fractions with market potential within the food and non-food sectors; (iv) understand the potential impacts on soil properties and soil nutrient cycling of off-farm removal of husks; and (v) propose a supply chain based on scale and mode of operations (e.g. centralised or decentralised) and evaluate the economic viability from a farmer's and private sector perspective.Developing a new value chain based on the use of cocoa pod husks husks will minimise potentially negative environmental effects associated with their disposal and diversify the activities of farmers through the collection, primary processing and transportation of the husks. All these changes will considerably improve the sustainability of cocoa production. This can potentially have significant impact on the farmers' economic stability and welfare through increased household income, incorporation of modern and sustainable farming practices, public-private investments in infrastructure, manufacturing operations and transportation, introduction to new technologies, development of new skill sets, creation of jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. The project's outcomes will make a strong case for use of the novel value chain and identify the socio-economic and technological challenges (e.g. adoption of new farming practices by farmers, process efficiency and scalability) and opportunities as well as the risks for its successful implementation.