encouraging sustainable, responsible cocoa growing

Entry: Ricardo Mejia, Compania Nacional de Chocolates

The Cocoa Tour allowed me to learn more about this important crop and its supply chain in Ecuador. The diversity of interests and the mix of nationalities amongst the group, allowed for a unique interaction and the possibility to discuss farming, commercial and sustainability issues from multiple perspectives.

It was a unique opportunity to visit with representatives from the different players of the supply chain: producers, middle men, farmer associations, researchers and exporters/traders. It was very interesting to have visited small holder farmers with low input schemes and large land owners growing cocoa under high input schemes; farmer associations starting to benefit from their collective effort; national research centre working on holistic approaches for the crop and exporters working on improving the quality of the product.

With the hospitality of Ecuadorians, a captivating crop, impeccable logistics and an excellent group, the Tour was a very successful event!

Entry: Bill Guyton

I wanted to share with you information on the World Day Against Child Labor and some of the recent actions taken by the chocolate industry and partners to address child labor in the cocoa sector. The chocolate industry is working with host governments, labor experts and NGOs to help better understand the root causes of child labor, how to monitor improvements, and implement actions that drive change in cocoa growing communities. Descriptions of recent certification reports from Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are described in the links.

In addition to these reports, the chocolate industry is working with partners to support an independent verification board. In a recent newsletter, the International Cocoa Verification Board (ICVB), described their organization, recent work, and the path forward. World Cocoa Foundation, our membership and partners, see this as important initiative to help improve social conditions for cocoa farming families in West Africa.

Entry: Bill Guyton

Today, a global coalition of the chocolate and cocoa industry issued a joint statement with the offices of US Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Eliot Engel reporting on efforts laid out under a Cocoa Protocol signed in 2001 to address the worst forms of child labor and forced adult labor in the West African cocoa sector. The statement comes as a number of efforts are improving conditions in West African cocoa farming communities. By July 1, 2008 both Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the world’s two largest cocoa producers, will have a certification system in place across an area that produces at least 50 percent of their cocoa. In both countries the data collection element of the certification system has been completed and reports detailing the preliminary results of these surveys by the respective countries are expected to be released by July 1st.

Entry: Bill Guyton

Yesterday, I participated in a multi-stakeholder forum on cocoa labor issues, co-hosted by the US Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor and the Belgian Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation.

Along with many colleagues from the chocolate industry, key government representatives from Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire and the NGO community participated.

Mrs. Akosua Frema Osei Opare, Deputy Minister of Manpower in Ghana and Mrs. Acquah Assouan Amouan from Cote d'Ivoire highlighted the efforts their countries are taking, in partnership with the cocoa industry, NGOs and labor experts, to implement a sector-wide certification system on child labor in cocoa farming. Details on Ghana's and Cote d'Ivoire's latest surveys will be reported in the coming days. Both Mrs Frema and Mrs. Acquah were honored by the Africa Society and the World Cocoa Foundation on the previous day for their leadership.

In the afternoon, I was asked to moderate a session on sustainable approaches in eliminating the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa sector. We talked about short and long-term recommendations that were then shared with the larger group.

In all, the forum allowed a good opportunity to exchange information on various approaches and actions on the ground to help address child labor.

Entry: Bernadette Paolo, President and CEO/The Africa Society

On June 26, The Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa and the World Cocoa Foundation hosted a lunch in Washington, DC to recognize the contributions of two imporant African women -- The Honorable Akosua Frema Osei-Opare of the Republic of Ghana and Mrs. Amouan Acquah Assouan of the Republic of Côte D’Ivoire.

The Honorable Osei-Opare currently serves as Deputy Minister of Manpower, Youth and Employment for Ghana. Since 2005 she has been Member of Parliament and Director of the National Program for the Elimination of the World Forms of Child Labor in Cocoa. In the past she held senior level positions, for over 10 years, with ActionAid Africa and SNV/Netherlands Development Organization. She has also served as Economic Development Consultant for United Nations programs in Malawi and Nigeria.

Mrs. Assouan is the Executive Secretary of the Child Labor Monitoring System (CLMS) for Cocoa Certification and Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for the Republic of Côte D’Ivoire. Since 2004 she has been appointed twice as Director of Côte D’Ivoire’s Cocoa Task Force, which was formed to combat child labor in Côte D’Ivoire’s cocoa sector, and remains the focal point for cocoa child labor certification in the country. She was formerly the Special Advisor in charge of Cocoa Certification and, as an agronomist with over 25 years experience, has dealt extensively with agricultural products at the National Agriculture Development Bank and the Cocoa Board.

The luncheon was attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps, the business community, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Labor, US Agency for International Development, the media, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), Congress, World Cocoa Foundation member companies, and other dignitaries.

Following a brief welcome speech by Bill Guyton, Bernadette Paolo gave opening remarks, acknowledging the dignitaries, and reiterating efforts by The Africa Society and World Cocoa Foundation to showcase the importance of Africa and its peoples to economic development and labor issues worldwide.

Ambassador Bawuah-Edusei of Ghana formally introduced Mrs. Osei-Opare, recounting her achievements in creating policies to battle appalling child labor practices.

Mrs. Assouan was formally introduced by Mr. Lata Akadje, Cultural Counselor for Côte D’Ivoire, who also cited her unprecedented commitment to dealing with child labor problems as well as her overall contributions to nation building.

Both Mrs. Osei-Opare and Mrs. Assouan outlined the context of child labor in their countries and highlighted the steps being taken, in partnership with the cocoa industry, NGOs, and labor experts, to implement a sector-wide certification system on child labor in cocoa farming.

Following their speeches, John Claringbould (Mars Incorporated) and Charlotte Ponticelli (US Department of Labor) gave remarks, further commending the dedication and diligent work of both honorees.

Courtesy of The Africa Society and World Cocoa Foundation, Mrs. Osei-Opare and Mrs. Assouan received gifts to support local organizations in their countries who were working on child labor and human rights issues.

Mrs. Osei-Opare and Mrs. Assouan continue to play a vital role in promoting a better understanding of the root causes of child labor, in generating compelling methods of monitoring improvements, and in advocating the implementation of actions that drive change in cocoa growing communities.

Entry: Bill Guyton

I just returned this morning from the Corporate Council on Africa’s (CCA) US - Africa Agribusiness Forum in Chicago, Illinois. For those of you who are not familiar with CCA, it is a business association which works closely with governments, multilateral groups and business to improve the African continent's trade and investment climate, and to raise the profile of Africa in the US business community. World Cocoa Foundation has been a member for over 5 years, and I currently participate as a board member.

One the first day of the event, I joined the morning workshop on “Tree Crops – Industries Improving Supply-Chains”. It was interesting to hear some of the pioneering work of Seald Sweet Growers in South Africa, as explained by their CEO, Bruce McEvoy. Lindsey Bolger of Green Mountain Coffee gave a case study of their public-private partnership in Rwanda with small scale coffee producers. This was followed by Mr. Mongwe Christopher Mbah, General Manager of North West Cooperative Association in Cameroon. I gave the last presentation on the World Cocoa Foundation programs in West Africa and our unique model of working collectively with 68 chocolate companies and public partners, to support West and Central African cocoa farmers in five countries.The other presentations will be posted in the CCA website in the next couple of weeks.

During the final session of the day, I had the pleasure to moderate a session on “New Investments to Build Markets”. Two notable speakers, Ambassador John Danilovich, CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and Mr. Franklin Moore, Assistant Administrator for the US Agency for International Development http://www.usaid.gov/, spoke of their agencies’ plans to help address the food crisis situation in developing countries.

Entry: Bill Guyton

We are pleased to report that as part of the certification process on child labor in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, the respective governments have posted survey reports. The Ghana report is available on the Cocoa Board's website. World Cocoa Foundation has posted a release from the chocolate industry on our website.

The Cote d’Ivoire report is available on Cote d’Ivoire’s Child Labour Monitoring System website and an industry statement is available on World Cocoa Foundation. Currently, this report is available in French only; an English translation will be available next week.

For more information on certification, please visit the Responsible Cocoa section of our website.