Organic Cocoa Production and Export Cooperative

The Organic Cocoa Production and Export Cooperative (Portuguese: Cooperativa de Produção e Exportação de Cacau Biológico, abbr. CECAB) is a São Toméan cooperative of 42 smallholders' associations representing around 3,000 cocoa farmers. It is the largest cocoa producer in São Tomé and Príncipe. CECAB sells organic cocoa to Kaoka, a premium French chocolate manufacturer.

Organic Cocoa Production and Export Cooperative

Trade name	CECAB
Native name	Cooperativa de Produção e Exportação de Cacau Biológico
Company type	Cooperative
Industry	Chocolate, cocoa production
Founded	20 July 2004; 20 years ago (2004-07-20)
Headquarters	Rua Barão de Água Izé, São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe
Website	www.cecab.st (in Portuguese)

Founding

Cocoa production in São Tomé and Príncipe has historically played a major role in the country's economy. However, by the turn of the 21st century, production had declined due to a lack of investment and environmental degradation.^: 4

Kaoka, a luxury chocolate manufacturer based in France, began buying cocoa from São Tomé and Príncipe in 2001. Kaoka encouraged local producers to form a cooperative to better coordinate their operations, and CECAB was consequently established on 20 July 2004.

Activities

CECAB produces organic, fair trade cocoa and sells it to Kaoka. From 2014 to 2016, CECAB worked with Kaoka, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Global Environment Facility on a program to renovate cocoa plantations in São Tomé. The goal was to create alternative incomes to hunting, coal production, and illegal deforestation in Obô Natural Park. The partner organisations of CECAB praised the program's outcomes.

In May 2018, CECAB President Aureliano Pires stated that the cooperative's losses from cocoa theft had reached 40 per cent of total production.^[discuss]

On 20 July 2022, CECAB opened a chocolate factory in the town of Guadalupe, in Lobata District, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north of the capital São Tomé. It was the third chocolate factory built in the country and the largest built by CECAB. Construction had begun two years earlier, with then São Toméan Prime Minister Jorge Bom Jesus laying down the first stone on 25 June 2020. The factory cost over 464,000 euros, split between CECAB (124,000 euros) and the African Development Bank (340,000 euros). Jorge Bom Jesus spoke at the inauguration ceremony, stating that his country was taking a "transformative path" towards "economic independence" by transitioning to the export of finished goods in addition to raw materials. He also commented: "We will export cocoa, we will export high quality chocolate – organic chocolate – and in return we will start to import ... technologies [and] equipment so that we may continue to improve the excellence of our services". Francisco Ramos, the country's then Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, also attended the ceremony. In 2023, the factory was projected to have an annual output of 10 tonnes of chocolate.

Membership

In 2023, CECAB's membership consisted of around 3,000 farmers from 42 smallholders' associations.

Notes

1. Originally the Cooperativa de Exportação de Cacau Biológico, or "Organic Cocoa Export Cooperative" in English. The abbreviation "CECAB-STP" is used on the cooperative's website.

References

1. Lo, Fei Pou (17 January 2023). "Chocolate's return to São Tomé and Príncipe". Macao Magazine.
2. Deberdt, Guy; Balmisse, Sébastien (8 November 2021). "Developing Organic Fair Trade Sectors: The Example of Kaoka". Private Sector & Development Magazine. No. 35. Groupe Agence Française de Développement.
3. "CECAB-STP – Cooperativa de Produção e Exportação de Cacau Biológico" [CECAB-STP – Organic Cocoa Production and Export Cooperative]. CECAB-STP. Organic Cocoa Production and Export Cooperative. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
4. "Sao Tome and Principe – Agricultural Sectors and Agribuiness". International Trade Administration. 11 August 2022.
5. Wikle, Thomas A. (2021). "Chocolate and the Ugly Secret of Cacao Production on São Tomé Island". Focus on Geography. 64. New York: 1–18. doi:10.21690/foge/2021.64.2f (inactive 25 July 2024). ProQuest 2562738496.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2024 (link)
6. "Sao Tomé: The Chocolate Island". Kaoka English Version. Kaoka. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
7. CECAB celebra 20 anos reconhecida como exemplo de cooperativismo e liderança [CECAB celebrates 20 years of recognition as an example of cooperativism and leadership] (YouTube) (in Portuguese). São Tomé and Príncipe: Rádio Somos Todos Primos. 20 July 2024.
8. "Produções" [Productions]. CECAB-STP. Organic Cocoa Production and Export Cooperative. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
9. Carlos, Maximino (23 May 2018). "São Tomé e Príncipe : Economia do cacau prejudicada" [São Tomé and Príncipe: Cocoa Economy Damaged]. Radio France Internationale (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 September 2024.
10. Sebastião, Sita (21 July 2022). "São Tomé inaugura terceira fábrica de chocolate e vai apostar na exportação" [São Tomé opens third chocolate factory and will focus on exports]. Forbes África Lusófona (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 30 September 2024.
11. "Primeiro-Ministro lançou a primeira pedra para construção da fábrica de chocolate de CECAB na localidade de Canavial" [Prime Minister laid the first stone for the construction of the CECAB chocolate factory in Canavial]. Priasa. 22 August 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
12. "São Tomé: New organic chocolate factory to put profits into local community". Macau Business. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
13. "Actividades e Realizações" [Activities and Achievements]. CECAB-STP. Organic Cocoa Production and Export Cooperative. Retrieved 30 September 2024.

0°23′26″N 6°37′46″E / 0.39056°N 6.62944°E / 0.39056; 6.62944