Côte d’Ivoire: INP-HB and Harvard lay the groundwork for a strategic scientific partnership on cocoa farming

Côte d’Ivoire  , the world’s leading cocoa producer, is taking another step in its efforts to build a more sustainable and resilient cocoa sector. Indeed, the INP-HB and the prestigious Harvard University are initiating discussions aimed at establishing a major scientific partnership focused on cocoa farming and the challenges posed by climate change.

Within this framework, INP-HB hosted a delegation from Harvard University on June 18, during a visit designed to lay the foundations for a lasting academic and scientific collaboration. This mission is part of a grant awarded by the Motsepe Presidential Research Accelerator Fund for Africa to an international team of researchers leading a project entitled: “Towards a Cocoa Producer-Focused Climate Policy in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.”

This cooperation, which brings together one of West Africa’s leading higher education institutions and one of the world’s most renowned universities, could open a new era in applied research on the cocoa sector, placing farmers at the center of public policies and scientific innovation.

The objective is ambitious: to analyze the impact of climate change on cocoa producers in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana in order to propose more appropriate and context-sensitive public policies. INP-HB welcomed this initiative, which will enable the Ivorian institution to strengthen its ties with North American universities and enhance its scientific visibility on the international stage. Beyond the academic dimension, this project embodies a new vision for cocoa farming.

The ambition of the partnership between Harvard and INP-HB is to contribute to a real paradigm shift in cocoa sector governance. The idea is to place producers at the center of all initiatives. Discussions between the various stakeholders have identified several priorities, including the need to better integrate farmers’ perceptions into public interventions in order to make them more effective.

In this approach, farmers are no longer seen as a simple link in the production chain, but as strategic actors whose productivity and well-being determine the sustainability of the entire sector. By combining Harvard’s international expertise with IINP-HB’s local knowledge and technical know-how, this partnership could help develop innovative solutions tailored to African realities.