Scaling organic compost to transform Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa sector

Côte d'Ivoire produces 40% of the world's cocoa - yet fewer than 5% of its farmers use organic compost. To close that gap, Akvo and i4Policy partnered with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the Dutch Embassy in Abidjan to design a five-year roadmap for scaling organic compost across the Ivorian cocoa sector. Over six months, the team mapped 39 stakeholders, reviewed 83 documents, and facilitated three rounds of participatory consultation - culminating in a workshop that brought together government, research institutions, and private sector actors to formally endorse the strategy. 

This assignment was commissioned by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) on behalf of the Climate and Energy Response Facility (CERF). CERF is a programme commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and implemented by RVO, supporting a just and inclusive green transition across partner countries.


Partners

i4policy


Locations

Ivory Coast


Sector

Agriculture


Services

Stakeholder mapping and needs assessment

Impact strategy, Data strategy

Data analysis and insights creation

Data management

Capacity building

The challenge

Côte d'Ivoire's cocoa sector is under acute and growing pressure. The country supplies approximately 40% of the global cocoa market, providing income for around five million people and contributing nearly 10% of national GDP. But yields are falling. Production dropped from 2.3 million metric tons in 2022/23 to an estimated 1.75–1.8 million tons in 2024/25 - a decline driven by soil degradation, erratic rainfall, drought, and rising temperatures. Climate change has already added approximately 40 additional days per year above the optimal growing temperature for cacao plants.

Organic compost offers a proven response. It reverses soil degradation, improves water retention, strengthens drought resilience, and supports long-term yield recovery. The ingredients are largely already available - cocoa pod husks, rice husks, local biomass, and cooperative infrastructure. Yet adoption remains low.

The barriers are systemic. There are no national quality standards, meaning farmers cannot distinguish effective compost from substandard organic waste. There is no specific regulatory framework giving organic amendments the same policy weight as mineral fertilisers, which continue to receive direct subsidies and national distribution support. Logistics are prohibitive - compost must be applied at up to three tons per hectare, making transport to remote growing regions expensive and labour-intensive. And financing instruments tailored to organic inputs simply do not exist. The result is a vicious cycle: high costs lead to inconsistent production, inconsistent production erodes farmer trust, and low trust suppresses demand.

Fragmented initiatives existed across the ecosystem, from NGO-led training programmes to corporate sustainability pilots, but without coordination, standards, or institutional ownership, none had achieved scale.

The solution

Akvo and i4Policy brought complementary and distinct expertise to this project, working in close coordination with RVO and the Dutch Embassy to deliver a process that was rigorous, inclusive, and grounded in Ivorian realities.

Akvo designed the research architecture and engagement methodology. Using the ADDIS participatory framework, the team structured the entire process - from initial ecosystem mapping through to final roadmap validation. Akvo led the documentary research phase, synthesising 83 sources to answer 17 research questions covering adoption rates, market dynamics, policy gaps, logistical barriers, and innovation opportunities. A Power and Interest Matrix was used to map and prioritise 39 stakeholders across the private sector, public institutions, NGOs, research centres, cooperatives, and donor organisations. Akvo also built the digital backbone of the project: structured data collection tools, a living stakeholder database, and a monitoring and evaluation framework designed to track progress across all five years of implementation.

i4Policy brought deep expertise in policy design, multi-stakeholder facilitation, and the ADDIS methodology itself. The team led the Key Informant Interview process, conducting deep-dive consultations with eight high-influence organisations including Rainforest Alliance, IFDC, CNRA, ECOM Trading, and the Ministry of Agriculture. These interviews surfaced the structural barriers and strategic opportunities that shaped the roadmap's priorities. i4Policy then designed and facilitated the Focus Group Discussion in Abidjan in November 2025, bringing together 12 sector experts to co-construct the strategic pillars, and a validation workshop in early 2026, where the roadmap was formally refined and endorsed by national actors.

RVO and the Dutch Embassy provided the strategic framing, convening authority, and financial foundation that made the project possible, bringing Dutch agricultural expertise in cooperative models, green finance, and precision soil management to bear on the Ivorian context.

The roadmap that emerged is structured in three phases. Years one and two focus on establishing the foundations: a national quality label for compost, reference farms in Daloa, Soubré, and Abengourou, and a multi-party Steering Committee led by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Coffee-Cocoa Council. Years three and four shift to scale - 50 village-level composting units operational at cooperative level, guarantee funds and advance payment systems to reduce financial risk, and formal integration of compost criteria into cocoa certification standards. Year five targets full institutionalisation: a National Soil Fertility Plan with the same regulatory weight as mineral fertiliser policy, a smart subsidy mechanism tied to results, and a self-sustaining national distribution network.

The impact

The roadmap has been formally validated by the Ivorian government - including the DSEPA and the Ministry of Agriculture - alongside research institutions, private sector producers, and international partners. 

By Year 5, the roadmap targets:

  • 35% of Ivorian cocoa farmers using organic compost
  • 200 village-level composting units operational at cooperative level
  • 20,000 farmers trained and equipped
  • 25% average productivity gain
  • A national quality label guaranteeing compost traceability, safety, and performance
  • A National Soil Fertility Plan giving organic amendments full regulatory parity with mineral fertilisers

The agricultural benefits extend beyond yield. Compost significantly improves soil organic matter, reverses degradation on aging plots, and boosts drought tolerance - directly addressing the climate vulnerabilities that are already cutting into Ivorian cocoa production. The biochar-enriched compost approach identified as a strategic innovation goes further still: by locking carbon in the soil for centuries, it opens the door to carbon credit revenues that could provide smallholder farmers with a direct financial incentive to maintain regenerative practices long-term.

The decentralised production model at the heart of the roadmap, cooperative-led village units producing compost close to the plantations, also addresses the last-mile logistics challenge that has historically made organic inputs unviable in remote growing zones, while keeping economic value within local communities.

Beyond its immediate outputs, this project demonstrated something equally important: that structured participatory methodology can bridge institutional silos, build genuine cross-sector consensus, and accelerate national policy alignment in complex agricultural ecosystems. That process, and the trust it generated, is itself a foundation for everything that follows.