Côte d’Ivoire builds research capacity around coffee and cocoa genetics

Côte d’Ivoire strengthened the scientific base of its coffee and cocoa industries in September by establishing the Institut du Café et du Cacao. The institute aims to bring together advanced technologies, specialist scientific expertise, and partnerships with national universities, regional centres of excellence and international organisations. It will build on an existing research station containing mature experimental plots and valuable genetic resources. The government has positioned the institute as a means of improving productivity, strengthening resilience to disease and climate pressures, and enhancing the quality and competitiveness of two strategically important export crops. The initiative therefore extends beyond research capacity alone, creating an institutional platform from which new varieties, breeding partnerships and commercial technologies may emerge. Companies and research organisations collaborating with the institute will benefit from agreements on access to genetic resources, ownership of resulting innovations and commercialising improved plant material from the outset of each partnership.

Dried cocoa beans in Soubré, Côte d’Ivoire. Investment in a new research institute aims to strengthen crop genetics, productivity and resilience in the country’s cocoa industry. Image courtesy: Milequem Diarassouba/WikiCommons, 2022