It will be difficult for cocoa farmers in Indonesia not to engage in deforestation and crop conversion if production remains low and income from cocoa insufficient to meet the food needs of farmer households. A study conducted to examine model diet and an analysis of low-cost nutritious model diet of the cocoa sector in the rural area of Sulawesi cocoa belt. The food prices data is gathered based on primary data from 96 rural markets of 24 sub-district in Sulawesi cocoa belt then used to create a model diet and processed using multivariate factor analysis to make it easier to conduct a study the influential variables and further research analysis with the help of Minitab 20.3. The cocoa farming in Sulawesi cocoa belt demonstrate that the cocoa business is currently unsustainable, even if merely for supplying the needs of the cocoa farmer household to cover of low-cost nutritious model diet with the average deficit around IDR 4,899,617 when the income from cocoa production is compared to the need for a low-cost nutritious model diet.

Cocoa Farmers, Robust Factor Analysis, Sulawesi Island