The Grenada Cocoa Association (GCA) requests support from the Global Environment Facility in the amount of USD $79,422to pilot solar crop drying technology at Mt. Horne cocoa drying station in St.
Andrew?s, Grenada. This pilot project will be used to inform potential interest in additional solar dryers throughout the island. As the cornerstone of agriculture in Grenada, building resilient technology in the cocoa industry is of strategic importance to the country.

Traditionally, Grenadian cocoa farmers have dried their beans outdoors, under the sun (?passive drying?). However, changing weather conditions in recent years?including heavy rains during traditionally dry seasons?are forcing farmers to rely more on indoor, ?active drying,? in which air is heated and blown across the beans.

The GCA currently runs two active drying facilities, at Mr. Horne and Carlton, in St. Andrew?s Parish. Both of these facilities use diesel-powered burners. As the GCA is forced to rely more on active drying, the problems associated with diesel burners are becoming more apparent: diesel fuel costs approximately $30,000XCD per high season, it creates air pollution, and it has the potential to contaminate cocoa beans if the drying process is not carefully controlled.

The proposed project would allow the GCA to pilot a solar drying system at Mt. Horne, the largest drying station in the country. This technology is a sustainable method using alternative, clean energy to increase capacity and create resilient infrastructure to expand the production of cocoa on which thousands of farmers, families and station workers rely. If evaluative data shows the dryer is successful, the GCA would like to pursue additional solar dryers throughout the island as a later project. Demonstration meetings with both cocoa and nutmeg boards will be held in order to consider the possibility of solar dryers in both major industries.

The goal of the proposed project is to increase Grenada?s cocoa drying capacity in a clean, sustainable, cost-effective manner in order to create resilience against climate change. This will ultimately invigorate the cocoa industry by creating a dependable marketplace for farmers. GEF funding will be used to purchase and ship a custom-built solar crop drying system, hire and train local workers in solar technology installation, and hold workshops to train station employees to both run the system and monitor its success.

The cocoa farmers will be the primary beneficiaries. The GCA is a cooperative of cocoa farmers with a mission to secure and protect a viable market for cocoa. The cooperative will benefit from increased capacity and decreased fuel costs, which will stabilize the funding source with which they compensate farmers for their harvest and provide extension services. By stabilizing the revenue and processing, the GCA can focus more resources on their other initiatives, such as establishing a cohort of certified organic farmers.
Cocoa from the solar dryer will be tested and compared to cocoa from diesel and passive dryers in terms of efficiency (time to process) and moisture level. This data will be used to evaluate the success of this pilot project to determine if solar dryers could build resilient technology and capacity throughout the island.