January 13, 2023
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By
Alastair Macdonald
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Virunga National Park, in the heart of Africa, is home to one of the world’s richest collections of plants and animals. But the Congolese people who live there are very poor.
Years of war have made people even poorer. Farmers around Virunga have rich land – rich in cocoa. That’s the key ingredient in one of the world’s favourite treats: chocolate. But they don’t earn much from it. Their beans are sent away, to be turned into chocolate in rich countries. If you buy chocolate for a euro, only about 6 cents go to the cocoa farmer.
Roger is changing that. With help from people in Belgium over the past three years, he’s learned how to run a factory they’ve set up to make chocolate, right there in Virunga. Roger has just come back from special training in Belgium. Now, with new equipment, he plans a big expansion of sales: “It’s going to be huge!” says Roger.
Farmers get more for their beans from Roger than they get from sending them abroad. And the community benefits from the money local people earn from jobs in the chocolate factory. It all means that more of the value of the chocolate we eat stays in Virunga.
Roger has found a passion for chocolate. It’s brought him back to the region he had to flee as a child because of the war. There is still fighting nearby. Two years ago, a battle near the factory nearly made Roger quit. But he stayed on because he wanted to help his community.
Today, says Roger, more jobs and more money around Virunga – thanks to chocolate - mean that young people are less tempted to join the groups that are fighting. “I think this idea could work in other places,” says Roger. “And that would be great for all mankind.”
You can meet Roger and hear his story in the WoW! News app.
You can buy Roger's chocolate here and read more about Virunga Origins and the Virunga National Park here.
You can learn more about the Belgian funding programme which has helped expand the factory here.
This article was made possible by a Solutions Journalism Accelerator grant from the European Journalism Centre, in partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network and with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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