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Since 2008 UTZ Certified has implemented a programme in Ivory Coast to enhance sustainability in the cocoa supply chain through the implementation of the UTZ Code of Conduct. The programme has supported farmers to become organised into cooperatives, receiving training on farm management and organisational capacity building, and become certified. Starting off with four cooperatives, two traders and Solidaridad as partners, it has grown into a large scale programme. By June 2012 86 cooperatives were certified, 44,624 farmers reached, and 128,582 tons of certified cocoa had been produced from an estimated farm area of 219,100 hectares. Eight traders and the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) are now partners, who are implementing certification as part of broader activities to support cocoa farmers, their cooperatives and communities. As of June 2013, a further 103 cooperatives were in the process of certification. This report serves two purposes: it provides a baseline of farm-level situation as of mid-2013, which can be used to measure changes in indicators in future impact assessments. It also provides an initial assessment of impacts by comparing different groups of cocoa farmers. It provides information about the inclusiveness of the UTZ Certified cocoa programme in Ivory Coast. It evaluates how certification and related activities have affected farmers’ knowledge and implementation of good agricultural practices, social and environmental issues in line with the UTZ Certified Code of Conduct and assesses the added value of certification. Lessons learned are drawn from the results, feeding recommendations to improve the quality and effectiveness of the programme.

Since 2008 UTZ Certified has implemented a programme in Ivory Coast to enhance sustainability in the cocoa supply chain through the implementation of the UTZ Code of Conduct. The programme has supported farmers to become organised into cooperatives, receiving training on farm management and organisational capacity building, and become certified. Starting off with four cooperatives, two traders and Solidaridad as partners, it has grown into a large scale programme. By June 2012 86 cooperatives were certified, 44,624 farmers reached, and 128,582 tons of certified cocoa had been produced from an estimated farm area of 219,100 hectares. Eight traders and the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) are now partners, who are implementing certification as part of broader activities to support cocoa farmers, their cooperatives and communities. As of June 2013, a further 103 cooperatives were in the process of certification. This report serves two purposes: it provides a baseline of farm-level situation as of mid-2013, which can be used to measure changes in indicators in future impact assessments. It also provides an initial assessment of impacts by comparing different groups of cocoa farmers. It provides information about the inclusiveness of the UTZ Certified cocoa programme in Ivory Coast. It evaluates how certification and related activities have affected farmers’ knowledge and implementation of good agricultural practices, social and environmental issues in line with the UTZ Certified Code of Conduct and assesses the added value of certification. Lessons learned are drawn from the results, feeding recommendations to improve the quality and effectiveness of the programme.

The level of quality that food maintains as it travels down the production-to-consumption path is largely determined by the chemical, biochemical, physical, and microbiological changes that take place during its processing and storage. Kinetic Modeling of Reactions in Foods demonstrates how to effectively capture these changes in an integrative fashion using mathematical models. Thus, kinetic modeling of food changes creates the possibility to control and predict food quality from a technological point of view.

Seeds of Lannea microcarpa collected from Brurkina Faso in 1997 and 1998 were subjected to desiccation and a range of storage conditions.Seeds were able to tolerate desiccation to low moisture contents (ca 5%) with little loss of viability. In addition, it was possible to store seeds at 25 degrees centigrade at reduced moisture contents (approx. 6%), for up to 14 months. However, seeds stored at -20 or 4 degrees centigrade exhibited a reduction in viability within three months of storage. This indicates that seeds of L. microcarpa may exhibit non-orthodox seed storage behaviour. Wetenschappelijke publicatie over vigour en bewaring van zaden van de boom Lannea microcarpa die in Burkina Faso gebruikt wordt voor herbebossing van de Sahel regio. Naast praktische waarde heeft dit onderzoek tevens bijgedragen aan kennisoverdracht richting onderzoekers in Burkina Faso.

Seeds of Lannea microcarpa collected from Brurkina Faso in 1997 and 1998 were subjected to desiccation and a range of storage conditions.Seeds were able to tolerate desiccation to low moisture contents (ca 5%) with little loss of viability. In addition, it was possible to store seeds at 25 degrees centigrade at reduced moisture contents (approx. 6%), for up to 14 months. However, seeds stored at -20 or 4 degrees centigrade exhibited a reduction in viability within three months of storage. This indicates that seeds of L. microcarpa may exhibit non-orthodox seed storage behaviour.

In this work, the feasibility of producing high-quality fish oil from herring byproducts was evaluated in various ways. With this, a contribution has been made to a more efficient usage of natural resources while yielding a high-quality product. Crude oil extracted from herring byproducts is relatively rich in essentialw-3 PUFAs such as EPA and DHA, and is relatively stable during storage. The main conclusions of this study were: herring byproducts from the entire year are an adequate raw material for fish oil production; good quality fish oil can be produced from salted herring byproducts, and byproducts from different herring processing generate oils with different qualities. It is also shown that sorting of the byproducts does not result in oils of strongly different qualities, showing that this step is not required. However, it is concluded that from stored byproducts oil with higher levels of PUFAs content could be obtained. The best quality oil was achieved while processing at the highest throughput of the pump and at intermediate decanter speed. It has been observed that the best temperature to keep the oil is 0°C. The extracted crude herring oil presented relatively low levels of contaminants, PCBs and dioxins. Finally, the crude herring oil was refined and compared with commercially available menhaden oil. Similar properties such as oxidative stability and off-taste development were found. The currently obtained knowledge of fish oil extracted from herring byproducts is the first essential step towards the valorization of byproducts from different fatty fish species into production of fish oil, thereby contributing to a better utilization of the marine resources that are available.

In this work, the feasibility of producing high-quality fish oil from herring byproducts was evaluated in various ways. With this, a contribution has been made to a more efficient usage of natural resources while yielding a high-quality product. Crude oil extracted from herring byproducts is relatively rich in essentialw-3 PUFAs such as EPA and DHA, and is relatively stable during storage. The main conclusions of this study were: herring byproducts from the entire year are an adequate raw material for fish oil production; good quality fish oil can be produced from salted herring byproducts, and byproducts from different herring processing generate oils with different qualities. It is also shown that sorting of the byproducts does not result in oils of strongly different qualities, showing that this step is not required. However, it is concluded that from stored byproducts oil with higher levels of PUFAs content could be obtained. The best quality oil was achieved while processing at the highest throughput of the pump and at intermediate decanter speed. It has been observed that the best temperature to keep the oil is 0°C. The extracted crude herring oil presented relatively low levels of contaminants, PCBs and dioxins. Finally, the crude herring oil was refined and compared with commercially available menhaden oil. Similar properties such as oxidative stability and off-taste development were found. The currently obtained knowledge of fish oil extracted from herring byproducts is the first essential step towards the valorization of byproducts from different fatty fish species into production of fish oil, thereby contributing to a better utilization of the marine resources that are available.