The establishment of new and interactive models for knowledge transfer in the cocoa industry requires an understanding of current farmer engagement. This study focused on understanding the social context of farmer engagement in Sulawesi. Results are based on interviews with a range of stakeholders and cocoa industry associated organisations over a 12 day period. The information is a high level overview as was intended given the short time frame of the field work. The report summarises previous extension approaches and the outcomes of these programs (e.g. SUCCESS, AMARTA, Mars Inc, GERNAS and BPTP, VECO, Swisscontact and Cocoa Sustainability Partnership). The study proposes the use of a new participatory model for farmer driven innovation rather than a traditional top down process of extension. The core characteristics of this model include: be farmer driven/responsive, be interactive and consultative, encourage farmer experimentation/innovation, have multidirectional communication flows, and have multiple sites of learning and knowledge transfer. The authors conclude with a suggested process for the project design.