Cocoa breeders tipped on breeding climate resilient planting materials
Recognised as a strategic crop under Uganda’s National Development Plan V, cocoa is central to FAO's broader effort to strengthen Uganda’s capacity for climate-resilient cocoa value chain development.
"Uganda’s cocoa industry has enormous potential, but unlocking it requires research, innovation & collaboration. This training marks a transformative step in ensuring climate-resilient, high-quality cocoa production for future generations,” FAO country representative Antonio Querido said. (File Phot)
Prossy Nandudu
Journalist @New Vision
Stakeholders in the cocoa value chain have converged at the National Coffee Resources Research Institute (NaCORI) to undergo a five-day training session.
The training is expected to help them better understand the cocoa genotype and diversity so as to breed high-yielding and climate-resilient cocoa planting materials.
The training on enhancing cocoa genotype diversity through morphological characterisation in Uganda, which is being conducted with support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), comes at a time when more farmers are getting interest in cocoa farming, due to its growing Market.
The training that kicked off on March 10, 2025, and goes on till March 14, is being implemented under the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP/UGA/3904), a broader strategy to strengthen Uganda’s capacity for climate-resilient cocoa value chain development.
"Uganda’s cocoa industry has enormous potential, but unlocking it requires research, innovation & collaboration. This training marks a transformative step in ensuring climate-resilient, high-quality cocoa production for future generations,” FAO country representative Antonio Querido said.
Antonio Querido FAO country representative makes his presentation during the training. (Courtesy photo)
He explained that cocoa is now Uganda’s second-largest agricultural export commodity after coffee, with exports soaring from 4,328 metric tonnes in 2004 to 51,000 metric tonnes in 2024. Despite this growth, current yields of 550 kg/ha remain far below the potential of over 2,000 kg/ha.
“There is a pressing need for improved research technologies and high-quality planting materials to unlock the crop’s full potential,” he added.
Recognised as a strategic crop under Uganda’s National Development Plan V, cocoa is central to FAO's broader effort to strengthen Uganda’s capacity for climate-resilient cocoa value chain development.
The initiative therefore is aligned with FAO’s vision of the 4 Betters – better environment, better food, better production, and better lives—and with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).