The global cocoa sector is currently grappling with widespread supply instability, triggered by a toxic combination of extreme weather events, rampant crop disease outbreaks, and plummeting harvests in West Africa’s top producing nations, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Against this backdrop of market volatility, a Trinidad and Tobago-based cocoa enterprise is stepping forward with an innovative artificial intelligence solution designed to lift up smallholder cocoa farmers across the Caribbean region.
Ashley Parasram, founder and director of the Trinidad and Tobago Fine Cocoa Company Limited (TTFCC), formally presented the ambitious project this Wednesday at the Climate Smart Summit held in Bridgetown, Barbados. Speaking to media outlet Observer Online after the presentation, Parasram confirmed that his company is already collaborating with two separate artificial intelligence developers to build and test the customized platform.
The core mission of the initiative is to unlock decades of accumulated Trinidad and Tobago-based cocoa research, which covers everything from pest and disease management to high-yield cultivation strategies and improved cultivar selection, and translate that technical knowledge into accessible, user-friendly digital tools. For many small-scale Caribbean cocoa farmers, cutting-edge agricultural research has long remained locked away in academic publications and printed reports out of regular reach. The AI platform aims to bridge this information gap, putting actionable guidance directly into farmers’ hands.
Beyond delivering cultivation insights, Parasram notes that the AI system will also help farmers formalize their production data to strengthen loan applications, unlocking much-needed access to agricultural financing from banks and impact investors. This dual benefit is designed to drive expanded agricultural activity and boost long-term sector growth across the region.
Right now, the model is still in early development, with all initial work supported by grant funding. Parasram says that after testing and refinement in Trinidad and Tobago, the framework can be rolled out to other cocoa-producing Caribbean nations, including Jamaica, Grenada, St Lucia, and Guyana. Long-term, he also sees potential to expand the tool to cocoa-growing nations across Central and South America.
Following productive discussions at the Climate Smart Summit, Parasram expressed confidence that the project will attract cross-sector collaboration to bring the platform to full deployment. He emphasized that regional cocoa sector resilience in the face of climate and market shocks depends on improved information access, robust data management, and proactive preparedness—all core pillars of the AI initiative. Jamaica, for context, holds a distinctive position in the global fine cocoa market, counted among just 11 global producers of fine or flavored cocoa, and one of only seven exclusive producers of this high-value product. As global demand for specialty cocoa rises amid supply shortages, the initiative could strengthen the Caribbean’s position as a reliable high-quality cocoa supplier.