Fourteen African nations and major industry leaders have finalised the first-ever sustainable cocoa farming plan for Africa, a report said.

The plan is designed to help cocoa farmers significantly increase their income by growing trees that are of higher quality, more resistant to disease and drought, and consume fewer natural resources, according to the Commodity Online report.

The plan was endorsed by Ghana President John Agyekum Kufuor, finance, agriculture and commerce ministers from 14 African nations, scientists, farmers, NGO donor organisations and other experts.

The sustainable plan for cocoa was finalised at a symposium hosted by the Government of Ghana in collaboration with the Cocoa Producers Alliance (Copal).

The symposium was sponsored by Mars Inc, the leading family owned global confectionary, food and petcare products company and co-sponsored by the governments of Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia and Togo.

According to the participants, this is the first inter-governmental pledge of its kind and is of enormous significance to the more than two million cocoa farmers in Africa, where 70 per cent of the world's cocoa is grown.

'The need to transform and modernise our agriculture practices has never been greater,' said Ghana President John Agyekum Kufuor.

'I look forward to leading the effort to implement the new consensus plan, one which helps our farmers not only survive, but flourish under the challenging economic situation we face currently. It is my hope that the sustainable cocoa plan will serve as a model for other commodities farmers in Ghana and throughout Africa.'

“Mars is proud of our long history as the global leader in cocoa research and the contribution we continue to make to advancing cocoa science,' said Howard-Yana Shapiro, global plant scientist, Mars, Incorporated.

'For the first time, we have built consensus among the key stakeholders that cocoa farming in Africa must move to a more sustainable model.'

'For decades, Mars has been at the forefront of forging unique public-private partnerships that create new social, economic and environmental opportunities for the millions of farmers throughout the tropics who depend on cocoa for their livelihood.'

'This is a quantum leap forward in working towards poverty elimination, renewing the fabric of the rural sector and stabilising the lives of West African cocoa farmers,' he added.