Entry: Marisa Yoneyama, World Cocoa Foundation

On July 19th, first lady of Côte d’Ivoire, Dominique Ouattara, and president of WCF, Bill Guyton, signed an agreement to develop and implement educational and vocational training programs to benefit cocoa farmers and their families in Côte d’Ivoire. The three-year agreement is valued at $3.6 million and will benefit more than 12,000 Ivoirians through successful WCF educational programs that are active in the country and in other West African countries. We were honored to spend time with the First Lady, who was gracious and kind, and delivered a powerful message in the support of the protection of children in the cocoa sector:

“I am very happy to be with you today in Washington, DC for this meeting which testifies to our collective action against child trafficking and exploitation on cocoa plantations.

First of all, I would like to thank the various speakers who preceded me at this forum, for their kind words about me.

Mr. Daouda DIABATÉ, Ambassador of Côte d’Ivoire in the United States, and Mr. Bill Guyton, President of the World Cocoa Foundation.

Mr.Guyton, I welcome the signature of this Memorandum of Understanding which will enable us to harmonize and coordinate our respective programs to fight against child exploitation in cocoa production.

It is certain that together, we will be stronger, and better able to insure a brighter future for our children, by allowing them to take their places on school benches instead of on cocoa plantations.

I would also like to thank you most sincerely for the honor you have accorded me in giving me this prestigious award. Your institution, the World Cocoa Foundation, is the symbol of social development promotion in cocoa growing communities.

So, is it with appreciation and gratitude that I accept the prize you offer me in acknowledgement of my commitment to the well-being of children. I also accept this prize in the name of all of the Ivorian mothers and fathers who dream of a better, safer future for their children; a future filled with quality education and fair economic opportunities.

Ladies and gentlemen, Today’s meeting is an important moment for me, in that it is taking place after Côte d’Ivoire’s recent reclassification just after the reclassification of Côte d’Ivoire from Tier 3 country to a Tier 2 in its progress in the fight against child exploitation and child labor.

This meeting also allows me to express my views on my personal commitment and that of my country to fight against the atrocity of child exploitation.

It is an opportunity for me to publically thank my husband, President Alassane OUATTARA, who has translated his determination to fight against child exploitation into firm policy decisions and actions, including the establishment of the Cacao-Coffee Council earlier this year, and setting the price of cocoa to allow farmers to earn the type of fair wage that will enhance their ability to participate in and benefit from the cocoa value chain, and effectively take more children out of the fields, and put them back in the classrooms, where they belong.

For me, the fight against child exploitation, and its eradication — in all its forms– is chief among the priorities I have set for myself as First Lady.

In fact, on November 3rd, 2011, when I was appointed head of the National Oversight Committee on child trafficking, exploitation, and labor, I officially made the commitment to fight to end child exploitation in our country.

This cause is a fundamental one for me, because, as a mother and activist for the rights of children, and as First Lady, I could not let this evil continue depriving our children of their tenderest and best years, and ruining their future.

With the Committee that I chair and the Inter- ministerial Committee, represented today by Minister Raymonde Coffie, we have begun to work and have developed a National Action Plan against trafficking in children.

- As early as August 2012, we will launch an extensive communication at the national level that will involve all media, in order to raise Ivorian public awareness, including among the parents of our children, and especially targeting our farmers.

- We will also organize a seminar with the district and regional-level officials (prefects), to invite them to join in the fight, and provide us exact figures that will enable us to develop reliable statistics on this scourge.

As local authorities, they are close to the people and will effectively relay our message in the field.

- Within the framework of monitoring and evaluation activities, which is an essential mission of the National Oversight Committee, we will conduct field visits to areas of cocoa production, to implementation establish of and some assess the programs in progress, in the fight against child labor.

This National Action Plan will be implemented through 2014, and will enable us to significantly reduce child trafficking in cocoa production.

We are aware that we still have a long way to go to achieve the complete eradication of the child trafficking, labor, and exploitation, but the award that I receive today will strengthen our determination, and encourage us to Ladies realize even and better results.

gentlemen, this meeting also gives me the opportunity to pay tribute to all the actors who help us through their involvement. Among them are the national and international organizations, technical and financial partners, NGOs, civil society organizations, media, local communities, and all community stakeholders in the fight.

Indeed, given the gravity phenomenon, a collective and of the energetic response is required, and it is hand in hand that we can make the exploitation of children a bad memory, a thing of the past.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear members of the World Cocoa Foundation, No tradition, no custom, nothing should ruin the future of our children. The place of children is at school, not on the farms. Let’s protect them today against all forms of exploitation.

Thank you.”

The original posting, courtesy of The Government of Côte d’Ivoire, and distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com) can be found here.

Permalink | Posted On July 27, 2012 Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Entry: Margaret Odotei, World Cocoa Foundation

Three hours of heavy rain and one hour of drizzle was hardly enough to stop the enthusiastic children, community members, government officials, development partners and officials from the cocoa industry who had gathered to commemorate the 10th edition of the World Day Against Child Labour. This year’s events, with the theme Human Rights and Social Justice: Let’s End Child Labour, was held in Accra and in Bedum, a small community in the Central Region.

In line with the MOU signed last year between WCF and the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, we supported the national event to commemorate the World Day Against Child Labour as well as the community event. Mr. Takyi Sraha, Technical Advisor for ACI participated at the national event and I participated at the community event in Bedum.

At the community event, the high point was the colorful and great performance by the pupils of the Bedum Basic School. Through dramatized poetry recitals and a musical drama, the children called for the respect of their human rights in line with the theme. The Regional Minister for the Central Region, Madam Ama Banyiwa Doe who gave the keynote address, called for parents to place premium value on their children’s education to ensure a brighter future for families and for the country as a whole. WCF on its part joined its voice with the voices of partners to call for:

• National policies and programmes to ensure effective progress in the elimination of child labour
• Action to build the worldwide movement against child labour

As I reflected on the day’s event, the words of Nelson Mandela echoed in my mind:
"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."

Permalink | Posted On June 15, 2012 Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Entry: Mbalo Ndiaye, World Cocoa Foundation

May 21, 2012, marked a significant step in the Government of Côte d’Ivoire’s commitment to setting the ways for a stronger relationship with the cocoa industry and other stakeholders. On behalf of the World Cocoa Foundation, Jean-Yves Couloud, our representative in Côte d’Ivoire, and I were convened in Abidjan, by the Cocoa and Coffee Council for the official launching of the National Cocoa/Coffee Public-Private Partnership Platform. The ceremony was presided by the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Mamadou Coulibaly Sangafowa. This initial step in revamping policy dialogue, setting common priorities and leveraging resources and investments, was widely welcomed by key stakeholders in the Ivorian cocoa sector who were present at the ceremony. Also present were World Cocoa Foundation company members Mars, Kraft Foods, Nestle, Armajaro, Olam, Cemoi, Barry Callebaut, ADM, Cargill, Noble Resources and Ecom, as well as other WCF partners such as IDH, UNDP and GIZ.

The platform, which is actively supported by WCF through the WCF African Cocoa Initiative (ACI), will be key in boosting mutual trust and maintaining regular dialogue between the Government agencies, the industry, NGOs and international donors involved in cocoa development, and contribute in leveraging investments and funding in the sector. WCF is expected to play an active role in mobilizing and coordinating with the private sector (member companies), in bringing its technical expertise as a permanent member of the Technical Secretariat, and supporting the platform’s activities through ACI.

Farmer training, certification, pest control, research, access to planting material and agro-inputs and child labor have been identified by the Cocoa and Coffee Council as the most critical and urgent issues to address through the Platform. With its over 10 years experience in these areas in Côte d’Ivoire, WCF expertise and contributions will be critically valuable for the success of this initiative.

Permalink | Posted On June 6, 2012 Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Entry: Mina Lassey, World Cocoa Foundation

The WCF Cocoa Livelihoods Program is a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 16 WCF industry members that was formed in 2009 to increase the livelihoods of approximately 200,000 West and Central African cocoa farming households. This program reaches farmers and improves their income through three main components: improving marketing efficiency, improving cocoa production efficiency and quality at the farm level, and improving famer competitiveness on diversified cocoa farms. The third goal specifically includes business and marketing training for farmers, as well as the establishment of business service centers as a resource for farmers.

WCF/CLP organized its 7th Steering Committee Meeting in Côte d’Ivoire from the 8th -9th May 2012. As part of the activities, the Program Management Unit together with the Technical Partners of the WCF/CLP organized a Field trip to Diangobo on the 7th May, 2012. Diangobo is a small community in the Abengourou district that benefitted from the WCF/CLP interventions. It is located in the Eastern Region of Côte d’Ivoire, and has a population of approximately 6,000 people. For this community, access to the local market is a particular concern as the roads are unpaved and transportation system is highly unreliable. The community depends on wells and streams for water and the local school is located in the center of the village.

The majority of the households in Diangobo depend on agriculture as the primary source of revenue. Typically, cocoa is grown on small family farms that are diversified to include food crops, such as cassava, plantain and maize. The family cultivates these food staples for personal consumption or sale at the local market. Cocoa farmers of Diangobo commercialize their beans through a coop called CADI (Cooperative Agricole de Diangobo) which was created in November 1999.

The field visit to this community included the President of WCF, Bill Guyton, the US Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, representatives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, cocoa industry contributors, and technical partners.

During this exciting field visit, farmers in the CADI cooperative narrated the state of the cooperative prior to the WCF/CLP interventions. The cooperative had challenges to function properly as a result of lack of proper management, lack of proper record-keeping, low quality of cocoa beans produced, and inability of farmers to bargain for higher prices for cocoa beans produced.

WCF/CLP started its activities in the community in 2009 through its various technical partners to strengthen and professionalize CADI, train the community farmers in Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to improve the quality of their cocoa, supply farmers with improved cocoa pods as well as agricultural inputs and provide training in the correct use of the inputs. In addition, 152 of these cocoa farmers received 9,514,880 FCFA ($US 18,600) in input credit through their Farmer Organization to improve productivity of their farms. To complement the GAP training, farmers received training in business skills to manage their farms as an enterprise and diversify their crops and income sources. The program also established a Business Service Center (BSC) hosted by CropLife International thirty kilometers from Diangobo, in the main town of Abengourou, where farmers can access information on cocoa prices and marketing as well as purchase approved inputs.

Farmers were proud to share with participants that after the WCF/CLP interventions, the CADI cooperative functions very well as they have now elected management staff who oversee the activities of the cooperative; records are kept correctly and members are now in the position to bargain for higher prices. Majority of them who applied the improved practices correctly and consistently now produce better quality cocoa beans and have doubled their cocoa productivity and income levels. Farmers are also able to do a simple cost benefit analysis of cocoa and other crops, plan the yearly cropping and calculate money in / money out, as well as diversify their cropping system to include various crops which they sell for additional income.

The participants also visited a cocoa farm to see the kind of management practices that farmers apply on-farm; the proud farm owner whose name is Koffi, shared how he manages his farm, and applies improved practices and pesticides. His one and a half hectare farm which previously produced 10 bags of cocoa now produces 20 bags even without fertilizer application. He hopes to complete his building by the end of next year despite the fact that he is also supporting his three children in a secondary education.

The farmers were so grateful to the World Cocoa Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, industry contributors and all the Technical Partners (SOCODEVI, GIZ, TechnoServe, IITA/STCP and ANADER) for the interventions which have tremendously improved their livelihoods.

Permalink | Posted On June 1, 2012 Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Entry: Geert Waelkens, World Cocoa Foundation

On May 15th the World Cocoa Foundation received the 2012 Academy Prize of the Académie Française du Chocolat et de la Confiserie (French Chocolate and Confectionery Academy).

The Academy prize, awarded every year since 2000, seeks to acknowledge and distinguish any person, or institution, whose activities have contributed to heighten the ethical standards either in terms of the professional excellence achieved in the realm of chocolate and confectionery craftsmanship or, and perhaps even more importantly, in terms of the concern to improve the condition of cocoa farmers worldwide and to help eliminate child labour. This is an issue that the Academy has particularly insisted upon in recent years. It is in this respect that the World Cocoa Foundation has been chosen as this year’s prize recipient.

The Académie Française du Chocolat et de la Confiserie was created in 1998 and has 40 elected members from different backgrounds and skills, brought together by a common interest and concern for cocoa, chocolate and confectionery. The aim of the Academy is to act as a moral authority with regard to the chocolate and confectionery crafts and as a guardian, both of tradition and innovation, within the framework of professional ethics. Its goal is to promote and develop the values of quality and excellence, as well as to ensure the defense and promotion of the French chocolate and confectionery traditions.

Permalink | Posted On May 21, 2012 Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)