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== Issouf - a peasant an independent cocoa farmer in the Sambirano valley Valley ==

Some of the worlds finest cocoa grows in the Sambirano region in the north of northern Madagascar. Between 4,000 and 5,000 tons of dry, good quality cocoa are produced yearly in this the area. Almost Nearly 80% of the harvest come from are cultivated by independent farmers. ROBERT works closely together in close cooperation with about 120 peasant independent farmers, which supply the company with first premium quality cocoa. One of them is Issouf.

Issouf lives with his family in New Antanambao, a small village in the Sambirano valleyValley, about 47km north/south of Ambanja. As a boy he learned everything about cocoa from his father, who had a plantation behind the village just next to the Ambahatra river. A big flood in 2004 and 2005 destroyed devastated about 600ha of cocoa farm landfarmland in the area, including his father's plantation. Heavy rain rainfall caused erosion and washed sand from the mountains into the valley. The otherwise good, fertile soil was covered by sand and is since then unusable for farmingpurposes.

In 2009 Issouf created a new plantation further away from the village. Beside already existing older cocoa trees he planted new trees in the shade of fruit trees next to coffee shrubs, banana trees and vanilla. On his plantation grow all three types of cocoagrow: criollo, forastero and trinitario.

Cocoa In the Sambirano region grows all year round. In the Sambirano region are with two peak seasons for harvesting - in June, July and October, November. Depending on the season, Issouf goes daily or twice a week together with his kids children and wife to the plantation to harvest ripe cocoa pods. Most fruits grow directly on the stem, others on branches. For harvesting Issouf uses a special harvest machete with a round peak, similar to a hook. He has to be very careful when harvesting the pods. The ripe fruits need to be cut off minimum 5mm from the stem not to not damage the floral button, from which a new flower will grow. Thereafter he and his family open the pods and separate the wet beans from the shell. The wet beans are brought to a fermenting and drying station.

Behind his house Issouf has a small tree nursery, where he cherishes not only new cocoa trees but also fast -growing trees. Those Together with other villagers he plants the fast -growing trees he plants together with other villagers on the mountain slopes to prevent future erosion which could destroy the plantations again. For Issouf, as for many other self-sufficient farmers, cocoa is an important cash crop which is indispensable to improve the their living conditions.