The purpose of the study was to analyse the effect of changes in the composition of raw material and agglomeration on sorption properties of a multi-component food, in the example of a powdered cocoa beverage. The basic composition of the mixtures was 20% of cocoa and 80% of sucrose. A change in raw material composition involved partial or total replacement of sucrose with a mixture of glucose and fructose, or with maltodextrin. Analysis of sorption properties demonstrated variability in the course of isotherms of water vapour sorption for components of the powdered cocoa beverage. Limiting water activity (aw) was determined for the value of 0.529. The conducted analysis detected no significant effect of agglomeration on water content in the tested products. However, a significant change in the raw material composition was demonstrated.

Annual losses of cocoa in Ghana to insect pests are significant. The use of integrated pest management (IPM) tools is critical for effective pest management. Previous studies on the subject have considered how farmers perceive the economic impact of insect pests on cocoa. These studies however did not investigate farmers’ ability to identify pests, associated damage symptoms and their implications for pest management. The current study, therefore, assessed farmers’ ability to correctly associate insect damage with the pest species that caused it. A total of 600 farmers were interviewed in the Eastern, Ashanti, Western, Brong Ahafo and Central Regions of Ghana with a structured open and closedended questionnaire. Most farmers (>85%) were unable to correctly identify and associate pests to their damage. The majority (>80%) of farmers also could not link the immature stages of insect pests to their adult stages. Wrong identification of the major pests (>85%) led to a wide variation in the timing of insecticide application amongst farmers. The majority of the farmers (60%) interviewed had not received training in insect pest identification. The study shows that 90% of the farmers, who had received some training, got it from the Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD). Almost all respondents (98%) agreed that correct pest identification is critical for effective pest control. The importance of pest identification and monitoring as a component of IPM is discussed.

The Sebatik Island is one of the main cocoa-producing regions in Indonesia, but its productivity has been reported to be below the potential production volume. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the sustainability index for smallholder cocoa plantations on the Sebatik Island using the multidimensional scaling (MDS), known as the RAP- SEBATIK (rapid appraisal for cocoa on Sebatik Island) that adopts from the RAPFISH (Rapid Appraisal for Fisheries). The MDS was used to evaluate the sustainability status of cocoa across six dimensions, while the leverage analysis was applied to identify the status of the most influential attributes of each dimension. The results showed that the average sustainability index value for such dimensions as ecological, economic, sociocultural, infrastructural and technological, law and institutional, as well as defence and security was 46.23, 48.58, 75.20, 40.49, 36.39, and 36.39%, respectively, based on the current conditions. According to these findings, only the sociocultural dimension was sustainable in smallholder cocoa plantations on the Sebatik Island. The main attributes that need improvement for the sake of sustainability apply to the following dimensions: ecological, economic, sociocultural, infrastructure and technology, law and institutional, as well as defence and security. Attributes that need intervention are the average age of cocoa, the community’s level of formal education, fertilisers application for cocoa, the operation of a shop for agricultural production facilities, and defence and security facilities and infrastructure.