Monitoring & Evaluation

Establishing the Baseline

Before implementation began, the project documented conditions across 30 cocoa farming households in Meduma, Ayokoa, and Hweremoase. Field interviews and guided group discussions were conducted in November 2024 and January-February 2025. Soil samples were collected from Afia’s model farm in November 2024 and analysed across 35 physical, chemical, and biological parameters. All 30 farms were assessed using the FAO TAPE framework: a globally recognised tool that scores ten elements of agroecological sustainability from 0 to 100%.

These baseline figures are the reference point against which all progress is measured.

Soil Health at the Start

Soil sampling on the model farm revealed a significant divide between the highland and lowland sections, which was a difference the farmer had already observed in her yields but had never been formally documented.

At surface level, the highland soils contained 7.84% organic matter compared to 3.92% in the lowlands: a difference of 100%. Total nitrogen in the highlands stood at 0.42% versus 0.23% in the lowlands. Microbial activity, measured through soil respiration, was nearly double in the highlands: 26.07 mg CO₂-C/kg against 13.22 mg CO₂-C/kg in the lowlands. The lowland soils also had significantly higher sand content and lower clay and silt, meaning they drain faster but retain far less water and nutrients.

At 20cm depth, the organic matter gap narrowed but persisted, with 1.99% in the highlands against 1.65% in the lowlands, confirming that the difference runs through the soil profile, not just the surface.

These findings directly informed the intervention strategy: biochar application and compost in the lowlands, shade trees and nitrogen-fixing cover crops across both zones, and differentiated soil management for each section of the farm.

Soil sampling will repeat annually to track the impact of these interventions over time.

Agroecological Baseline: The Ten Elements

The CAET assessment across 30 farms produced the following baseline scores:

Community and social foundations are relatively strong. Human and social values scored highest at 61.5%, with women actively involved in farming decisions across most households as the women’s empowerment score averaged 88%. Cultural and food traditions remain largely intact at 53.1%. Over 65% of farmers still use local crop varieties and apply traditional farming knowledge.

The ecological and economic foundations are weaker. Recycling practices scored 24%, as over 90% of farmers burn or leave farm residues unmanaged rather than composting or returning them to the soil. Efficiency of input use scored 26.7%, indicating that more than 80% of farmers are entirely dependent on purchased synthetic inputs, with no on farm alternatives. Climate resilience scored 29.5%, driven by unstable incomes, negligible savings, and almost no access to financial safety nets. Only around 8% of farmers described their income as stable enough to recover quickly from a bad season.

These are the scores the project is specifically designed to improve. The same assessment will run at project close.

Ongoing Monitoring

The full consortium conducts joint field visits in February, April, June, and October each year. Between visits, field officers monitor planting survival, training adoption, and farm management practices on the ground.

Drone flights map canopy development and support yield forecasting as the agroforestry layers mature.

Digital monitoring tools such as the Kijani app and FarmTree platform are being integrated for farm level data collection.

Annual farmer interviews document household revenues and expenditure to track income change over time. Carbon credit accounting follows a formal Measurement, Reporting, and Verification process.

What Else Has Been Done As of July 2025

Model farm planting: The full agroforestry design has been planted across 4 hectares of Afia’s farm. This includes 440 cocoa seedlings, 960 fruit seedlings, 320 shade tree seedlings, and 440 Gliricidia seedlings, a nitrogen fixing species used to restore soil fertility. Ground cover planting included 5,120 pineapple suckers and 5,120 sweet potato vines. All plantings are counted by species, recorded by location, and monitored quarterly for survival rates.

Biochar: 7 field officers have been trained in biochar production. One biochar application has been established on the model farm. Carboneers tracks each production batch (volume produced, application rate, and location), feeding into the carbon credit verification process.

Farmer and field officer training: Thirty farmers have been trained in agroforestry practices. 10 field officers have been trained in agroforestry implementation. All 30 trained farmers are recorded as actively applying agroforestry practices on their own land.

Women’s participation: 42% of training participants are women, a figure that is tracked and reported throughout the project.

Business integration: 5 Dutch businesses have been engaged to integrate into the Farm of the Future model, exploring commercial applications for farm outputs including biochar and sustainably produced cocoa.

Indirect reach: An estimated 200-300 community members are identified as indirect beneficiaries through the farming households directly involved in the project.

Targets by 2028

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