Solidaridad marks 50th anniversary supporting global farming including cocoa sector
Solidaridad, the organisation supporting farming communities around the world including cocoa farmers, is marking its 50th anniversary with a conference at its base at Utrecht in the Netherlands on 16 May.
Panel discussions for the event will include how to significantly significantly scale up investments in sustainable agriculture in developing countries, as well as examining how smallholder farmers brace themselves against the consequences of climate change.
In addition, the event will also look at the most effective forms of cooperation between governments, the private sector and civil society organisations, and enabling young women and men in Africa gain access to better quality employment.
Within the panel discussions, cocoa farmers from Africa and South America, scientists and government representatives will join the panel discussions. Other panel members are working in the private sector and include representatives from Henkel, Stahl, Ecom and East West Seed as well as financial institutions such as CDC, FMO, CSAF, Zebu Investment and Lendahand.
The afternoon programme explores the 50 years of Solidaridad’s history. The organisation was founded in 1969 in the form of a Dutch Advent campaign which stood up for the victims of human rights abuses in Latin America. In the following decades, the organisation has grown into a global network organisation and expert in making international supply chains more sustainable, with the aim of providing farmers and workers in developing countries with better prospects, and with less damage for the environment.
After 35 years at Solidaridad, at the end of the afternoon, Nico Roozen will take formal leave of the organisation as its Executive Director. He will transfer his director’s baton over to Jeroen Douglas.
Roozen said: “The geopolitical changes of this century have led to a multi-polar world order. How will that affect the food security of the new mega-cities in Asia and Africa? How can the agricultural and the financial sectors bear the drastic effects of climate change? How can billions of poor people gain a prospect of a better future? It is important to me to prioritise these big questions at this event which marks my goodbye.” For more information, visit www.solidaridadnetwork.org
