Improving cocoa farmers’ lives

Hundreds of members of the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) and leaders from the global cocoa sector convened in Copenhagen, Denmark to take further crucial steps toward implementing a comprehensive strategy, called CocoaAction, to sustain the cocoa industry and improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers in Ghana and Ivory Coast.

WCF leadership also announced the collective effort to support the fight against Ebola in West Africa has resulted thus far in more than $700,000 that will be donated to two non-governmental organisations, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Caritas.

CocoaAction was announced in May and is focused on helping cocoa farmers improve their productivity, and support community development initiatives in the countries of Ghana and Ivory Coast – the largest cocoa producing countries in the world.

CocoaAction’s goal is to work with no fewer than 300,000 cocoa farmers and their communities by 2020. Currently 11 companies have committed to CocoaAction including ADM; Barry Callebaut; Blommer Chocolate Company; Cargill; ECOM Agrotrade Limited; Ferrero; The Hershey Company; Mars, Incorporated; Mondelēz International; Nestlé; and Olam.

The industry has announced that it has aligned on a standard set of key performance indicators that each company will use to measure and report their progress and that WCF will consolidate to report on externally.

“Our industry is at a critical moment, and CocoaAction is our strategy to ensure that collective cocoa sustainability efforts go deeper and wider,” says Bill Guyton, president, World Cocoa Foundation.

“With CocoaAction, industry leaders are embarking on an unprecedented effort to improve farmers’ lives and ensure they benefit more from the cocoa they grow. This meeting has been critical in engaging all stakeholders in helping to co-create the future of standards, measurement and certification.

“I am confident that these productive discussions will continue long after we leave Copenhagen, and that we as a sector will determine the necessary tools and assistance to strive toward true sustainability.”