Brigitte Laliberté, Bioversity International

CacaoNet and Cocoa of Excellence Programme Coordination

8 September 2015, San Salvador, El Salvador

The Role of Genetic Diversity

and Conservation in support

to developping quality and fine

flavours - niche markets

Origins of cacao diversity

Species richness of Theobroma.Source: Thomas et al., 2012.

Highest levels of genetic diversity observed in the Upper Amazon areas from southern Peru

to the Ecuadorian Amazon and the border areas between Colombia, Peru and Brazil.

Genetic differentiation and geographical distribution of a number of other clusters seem to

have been significantly affected by processes of human management.

Cacao is indigenous to the Amazon

basin

Genus Theobroma originated millions of

years ago in South America – 22

species

Conservation of genetic diversity in Central America

and the Caribbean

"Cacao Genetic Clusters" by Juan C. Motamayor, Philippe Lachenaud, Jay Wallace da Silva e Mota, Rey Loor, David N. Kuhn, J. Steven Brown, Raymond J. Schnell - Geographic and Genetic Population Differentiation of the Amazonian Chocolate Tree. 2008

The Cocoa Route – how it moved around the world

• 1660-1670 - Mexico to the Philippines

• 1664 - Amazon to Martinique

• Philippines to Indonesian Archipelago

• 1757 - Amazon to Trinidad

• Early 19th century - Indonesian Archipelago to Ceylon

• 18th &19th centuries - Amazon to Southeastern Brazil

• 1822 - Brazil to Principe

• 1840s - Dublin to Sierra Leone

• 1861 - Ecuador to Guatemala

• 1880-1881 - Trinidad (via England) to Sri Lanka

• 1883 - Trinidad (via England) to Fiji

• 1892-1893 - Trinidad to Nicaragua. Nicaragua to Trinidad.

• 1898 - Trinidad to Costa Rica and Colombia

• 1890 - Venezuela to Ecuador

• 1930s - Ecuador to Costa Rica and Panama

• 1880s - Trinidad, Venezuela and Ecuador to Sao Tome

• 1899 - Trinidad, Venezuela, Ecuador and Central America to Cameroon

• End of 19th century - Indonesian Archipelago to Samoa

Cocoa Production Today

Côte d’Ivoire 36%

Ghana 21%

Indonesia 11%

Nigeria 6%

Brazil 5%

Cameroun 5%

Ecuador 5%

Dominica Republic 2%

Peru 1%

Threatened cacao genetic diversity

Serious problem because it

increases the vulnerability of

cacao to sudden changes in

climate and to new pests and

diseases.

Factors contributing to declining

genetic diversity :

Habitat loss due to natural disasters and extreme weather

Destruction of the Amazon rainforests - centre of diversity and home of cacao

Loss of traditional varieties grown

Global Strategy for the Conservation and Use of Cocoa Genetic Resources

Finalised in October 2012

Coordinated by the Global Network for Cacao

Genetic Resources - CacaoNet

Result of a consultation process, drawing upon

the global cocoa community’s expertise in

all aspects of cacao genetic resources (over

75 individuals from 26 institutes contributed)

Clear framework to secure funding for the most

urgent needs to ensure that cacao diversity

provides direct benefits to the millions of

small-scale farmers around the world

www.cacaonet.org

Where is cacao diversity conserved?

How is it exchanged?

Cocoa Research Centre of the

University of the West Indies

(CRC/UWI), Trinidad and

Tobago (M.Gilmour)

Centro Agronómico Tropical de

Investigación y Enseñanza

(CATIE), Costa Rica (W. Phillips)

International Cocoa Quarantine

Centre (ICQC), UK (A. Daymond)

Sharing Genetic Resources

Guidelines for the Safe Movement of Cacao

Germplasm – 2014

English, French and Spanish

Legal and Policy expertise in the fair and

equitable sharing of genetic resources

International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources

for Food and Agriculture

Convention on Biological Diversity – Nagoya

Protocol

Economic evaluation of conservation actions

“Noah’s Ark” question - what should we

conserve?

Use of genetic diversity

International Cacao Germplasm Evaluation

CFC/ICCO/Bioversity - 1998-2009

Global Approaches to Cocoa Germplasm Utilization and

Conservation

Objectives:

validate promising cocoa varieties in farmers’ fields

through participatory approaches

disseminate selected cocoa varieties between

partners.

linkages between national breeding programmes,

international genebanks ,quarantine centres, and

international research and development efforts.

Review of cacao propagation methodologies

Current status of cacao propagation

methodologies : seeds, grafting, tissue culture

Major obstacle - capacity to supply significant

volumes of improved planting material to

farmers.

Basis for assessing national strategies that

provide farmers with quality planting materials

adapted to current and future needs.

Not sustainable to have farms with old, poorly

producing trees.

Opportunities

Improve the livelihoods of the 5-6 million farmers in

developing countries across Africa, Asia and Latin

America

produce around 90% of cocoa worldwide

40-50 million people who depend upon cocoa for

their livelihoods

Improve productivity

Celebrating the flavours of a very diverse region

Adding value - uniqueness

Adding value - uniqueness

Assessment of opportunities for adding value

to native cacao diversity.

Example of Peru:

Chuncho cacao diversity

Good characterisation and evaluation of

potential for differentiated markets

The results show high intrinsic quality of

Chuncho beans.

Other unique diversity – piura – cacao blanco

Promoting excellent quality

Good trees (genetics)

Well cared for and grown in suitable environment

Pods correctly harvested

Good practices to keep the tress healthy and free of

pests and diseases

Optimum fermentation and drying specific to the type of

beans

Know-how for processing cocoa beans and for chocolate

making

All activities in cocoa production, management and

processing ultimately affect flavour development and

quality

Reward Excellence in Producing

High-quality Cocoa Origins

Vision

• Achieve farmers'/producers’ professionalization and

long-term sustainability of the cocoa supply chain.

• This is through recognizing, preserving and valuing

cocoa diversity and through promoting and providing

global recognition of high quality cocoa.

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Partners for the 2015 Edition

Bioversity International – Programme

coordination

Brigitte Laliberté and Stephen Weise

Event International – Paris France

Salon du chocolat

François Jeantet and Laure Videau

Guittard Chocolate, San Francisco

Seguine Cacao - Cocoa & Chocolate Advisors

Ed Seguine

Barry Callebaut - France

Valentine Detalle and Nathalie Touzet

Belcolade - Puratos - Belgium

Marie-Amelie Ormières

Cocoa Research Centre, - Trinidad and Tobago

Darin A. Sukha

Chocolat Weiss - France

Régis Bouet

European Cocoa Association – ECA

Catherine Entzminger

Lutheran World Relief

Regional Representative for Central America and Haiti

Jenny Wiegel

Cacao Atlanta Chocolate Company

Kristen Hard

www.cocoaofexcellence.org

Heirloom Cacao Preservation - HCP

MISSION: To identify and preserve fine flavor ("Heirloom") cacao for the conservation of biological

diversity and the empowerment of farming communities.

How it works:

A. Apply to the HCP, following the application instructions, pay the fee, and send 3 Kg of your best

beans for evaluation.

B. USDA processes the application and begins genetic evaluation.

C. HCP Lab processes the beans anonymously into chocolate and liquor for sampling.

D. The Tasting Panel performs qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the beans.

E. HCP reports the Tasting Panel results to the USDA and the Applicant.

If Heirloom designation is achieved, the Application proceeds to F.

F. USDA performs a site visit to sample the trees the beans came from and matches them to the

genetics of the beans submitted. If the beans match, the designation is complete!

G. HCP announces the designation and begins working with the Applicant to promote the result and on

preservation and propagation work.

www.bioversityinternational.org

Thank you