Characteristic of Cocoa Commodity Supply Chain in West Sulawesi

Abstract

West Sulawesi Province, especially Mamuju District is one of the cocoa bean producers whose farming community is still the main income from cocoa farming. However, the price of this commodity is dominantly determined by collecting traders, so the price has not been competitive compared to other commodities, such as rubber and oil palm. This is due to the supply chain from farmers to marketing logistics of cocoa beans have a considerable distance. The purpose of this research is to identify the pattern of supply chain of cocoa beans commodity from farmers as producers to village collector traders, sub-district collector traders, and wholesalers in Mamuju District, West Sulawesi Province. This research was conducted through survey by mapping the characteristics of  the cocoa bean supply chain that became the object of research from farmers to collector traders. The results of this research show that the supply chain of cocoa beans has not been patterned or unstructured. The marketing chain of cocoa beans is still dominated by village collector traders because the volume of productivity and quality of cocoa beans produced by farmers is still low due to pest attack disease and low quality of varieties / seeds, so the farmers need government policies and research that support the increase of productivity. In addition, the farmers need capital from banking and mentoring from government, private, or NGOs for cacao plant maintenance, as well as price guarantee from traders or industries in the form of partnership