Facilitating Good Things: In the Body

Mars Center for Cocoa Science

In Bahia, Brazil, Mars has created an extraordinary community around cocoa, the scientists who study it, and the many small farmers who grow it.

The Virginia Mars School teaches the children of the surrounding farm families everything a city child would learn — and more! From math and science to computers and conservation, these kids learn with alacrity and joy.
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The Center helps farmers increase yields through innovative science, new farming techniques, water conservation methods, and healthy agroforestry strategies.
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In addition, Mars, IBM and USDA have taken on the enormous challenge of sequencing the entire genome of cocoa. This information, which will be publicly available, will be used by scientists around the globe to help improve cocoa growing so farmers can be more successful, more sure of a sustainable future.
See video.