The perception of local cocoa farmers to the swisscontact program: Economics, environment and social dimension

Abstract

Swisscontact as a partner of local cocoa farmers in West Sulawesi plays an important role in improving the sustainability of cocoa farming, not only in the economy but also in the environment and social dimension. In addition, cocoa as a product has a strategic role in high impact for the regional and national economyof Indonesia. This research focused on measuring the satisfaction level of local farmers from the economic, environmental and social dimensions to extent the success of the program implemented both by Swisscontact as an International NGOs from Swiss and local cocoa farmers. This research was conducted in West Sulawesi, one of the largest cocoa producers nationally. The data were collected through interview to the 269 local cocoa farmers in Polewali, Mandar as one of the Swisscontact Partner by the Sustainable Cocoa Production Program (SSCP). The results showed that the economic dimension had a good performance as well as the environmental dimension. Meanwhile, social dimension showed a bad performance. Three of the dimensions are important for the local farmers to support in improving their income and also in producing high-quality cocoa product which is environmental and social friendly.