Rainforest alliance and Cropin launch cocoasense for climate-smart, profitable cocoa production
In an ambitious move to improve farmer livelihoods and sustainable cocoa farming in Ghana, Rainforest Alliance partnered with Cropin to develop CocoaSense, an AI-powered advisory and remote monitoring platform. The project supports Ghanaian farmers with actionable, real-time insights to reduce crop loss, predict disease, and boost yields sustainably.
Client background
Rainforest Alliance is a global non-profit organization working to protect forests, improve farmer incomes, and foster ethical supply chains. Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, was selected as a strategic hub to pilot the Sat4Farming initiative, aiming to bridge the knowledge and technology gap in cocoa production.
The challenge
Cocoa production in Ghana faced multiple systemic issues:
- Large-scale crop losses due to climate change and erratic rainfall
- Increased outbreaks of new pests and diseases with limited prediction tools
- Poor compliance with certification processes affecting market access
- Fragmented advisory systems and outdated farming practices
- Low yield averages that kept farmers below the World Bank poverty line
A holistic, tech-first platform was needed to transform cocoa farming for long-term sustainability and profitability.
The solution
Cropin and Rainforest Alliance co-developed CocoaSense, a remote sensing and advisory tool designed to:
- Deliver individualized digital Farm Development Plans (FDPs)
- Use AI/ML and satellite imagery for early disease detection, including Black Pod Disease (predicted with 74% accuracy)
- Provide climate-smart practices and PoPs in multiple languages via mobile
- Enable real-time monitoring of crop health, yield stage, and water stress
- Facilitate two-way communication between field teams and farmers
- Offer 24x7 advisory support through intuitive, multilingual interfaces
The platform was designed for high scalability and localized engagement, making it easily adoptable even in low-tech rural settings.
Impact
- Targeted a 3X increase in cocoa yields, up to 1,500 kg/year per farmer
- Empowered farmers with disease prediction tools and timely alerts
- Improved traceability, transparency, and compliance for certification
- Fostered digital knowledge transfer and product training among field officers
- Paved the way for profitable and sustainable cocoa farming in Africa
CocoaSense transformed how Ghanaian farmers interact with their land, making every decision informed, every harvest stronger.
