Entry: Bill Guyton, World Cocoa Foundation
Last week, I was invited to participate in the Black Policy Conference at the JFK School of Government at Harvard University. This year the theme was entitled How ‘Making a Difference' Works: Approaches to Real Solutions highlighting work being done around the country and the world to reshape Black communities and improve the welfare and quality of life for Black people. During the conference, tangible examples were provided from those who have gone beyond dialogue to creating change.
I joined a panel called “Solutions and Successes in Africa” along with Dr. Julie Sullivan/President and CEO, International Foundation for Education and Self-Help, Walter Carrington/Ambassador to Nigeria (retired) and former Minister of Information from Nigeria. Curtis Valentine/Harvard Law School was our moderator.
During the panel discussion, I discussed how public and private sectors can work together to bring about rural development in Africa. My examples included the World Cocoa Foundation’s partnership in supporting the Sustainable Tree Crops Program in West Africa with our public sector partners. Over the next three years, the program will reach over 150,000 small scale cocoa farmers in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Cameroon and Liberia. Many of the participants asked questions about how corporations can move beyond supporting farmer outreach programs to invest in “value added” efforts in developing countries. For cocoa, several companies have recently started to build new processing facilities in Ghana. Economic and political stability help to ensure that this trend continues. The other interesting topic was the need for long term investment of education in Africa to help provide skills and training for the next generation of business professionals.