Umar works with other field employees in the sustainability team to reach out to cocoa farmer communities in different parts of Indonesia. The field team is young and diverse - many of them are in their 30s, with some coming from families who have cocoa farms or live around the farming communities. Many of the team members also hold a vocational or university degree; some in agriculture, biological sciences, sociology and even religious studies. More importantly, this enables the team to work together effectively to impart sustainable farming practices to the cocoa farmers, sometimes also helping to replace aging cocoa trees with cocoa seedlings and nurseries programs.

Through the UTZ program, our field facilitators, who shuttle between different farmer communities, train farmers to grow better crops, generate more income and create better opportunities while safeguarding the environment and securing the earth’s natural resources.

Today, a growing number of certified farmers in Indonesia are better at these important practices: pruning and sanitation, pest and disease management, and fertilizer use. These farmers have improved storage, handling and disposal of agrochemicals, and are equipped with personal protective equipment.

An important contribution of the UTZ program is that certified cocoa farmers are paid more for their beans when they produce more quality beans. Through the UTZ program, the practices that the farmers adhere to produce a bigger amount of quality beans. Therefore, the higher the yield produced, the more the premiums the farmers receive. 

Over the course of the cocoa season, these farmers have acquired better agricultural, environmental and social knowledge and practices for growing cocoa. This not only improves their yield, but also their productivity and quality. Therefore, the effects of growing sustainable cocoa are compounded – farmers increase their incomes, hence improving their structural advantage for practices that result in cocoa beans of higher worth.

Recognizing the importance of continuous improvement, Umar projects that, “In order to achieve greater success with our sustainability efforts, we need to constantly improve our growing techniques and feedback processes, using better tools to meet the farmers’ needs.” 

The mobile app Katchilè was developed in collaboration with SAP and was first introduced by Barry Callebaut in Côte d’Ivoire. It is now being rolled out in Indonesia to help improve data collection and farmers’ internal inspection. The 2^nd phase of the launch will include the traceability process and provide field facilitators with the ability to tailor agriculture advice down to individual farm management plans.

Enabling traceability from the farmer to Barry Callebaut's warehouse

The solution combines desktop and mobile access, allowing usage in the most remote of locations. Since some cocoa farms in Indonesia are without stable mobile coverage, the app is designed to allow the field facilitator to collect data offline until it can access a network. The Katchilè app uses a cloud-based system that works independently of internet access. This allows real-time updates from the different farmers that work with Barry Callebaut to reach field facilitators and coordinators like Umar.

Information on farmers, their farms and their communities can be recorded digitally at every level of the supply chain. When the implementation is complete, farmer registration, cocoa buying, processing and transportation records will enable the traceability of cocoa beans from the farmer to Barry Callebaut’s warehouse.

Additionally, sustainability-related activity records allow for assessment of individual farmer and community needs and analysis, resulting in higher quality and higher impact support. Beyond the usual services, these farmers will have improved access to seedlings, fertilizers and training that cater to their specific needs. This approach is at the foundation of Barry Callebaut’s strategy to monitor and foster the adoption of sustainable cocoa and social practices and enhance impact on the ground.

Currently, Katchilè is being implemented as Pilot Project in Bantaeng and Lampung in Indonesia, where a growing number of farmers are enrolled in the UTZ certified programs with Barry Callebaut.