The World Cocoa Conference

The second edition of the World Cocoa Conference will take place at Amsterdam’s RAI Convention Centre from 9-13 June. The aim of the conference is to assess the progress of governments and industry in addressing the issues identified at the first Conference in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in 2012.

Attendees will include ministers from host country the Netherlands, Ghana and Ecuador, top executives from the world’s cocoa and chocolate industry corporations, senior government officials from cocoa producing and consuming countries, cocoa farmers and their representatives from a wide range of origins, and a large number of NGOs and research and educational bodies. In addition, the conference will have speakers whose expertise ranges from the development of the world’s chocolate markets to the financing of cocoa farming.

Topics for discussion at the conference will include value distribution from the farm to the chocolate bar, efforts to eradicate the worst forms of child labour, improving productivity, attracting a new generation of cocoa farmers, protecting the diversity of cocoa, adding value to cocoa at origin, managing the supply deficit, promoting consumption in emerging markets and food safety issues, among many others.

ICCO Executive Director Dr. Jean-Marc Anga will give the Keynote Presentation. The title of the presentation is ‘How to Improve Cocoa Farmers’ Incomes’.