Entry: Bill Guyton

Today the World Cocoa Foundation announced sustainability principles and goals to help the world’s cocoa farmers, guide industry efforts and prioritize the Foundation’s development projects in West Africa, Southeast Asia and the Americas (see press release). This has been discussed by our membership over the past two years, along with input from producing country governments, and program partners.

The sustainability principles and goals commit the World Cocoa Foundation and its members to working toward:

• Profit: Improved and more equitable economic returns for farmers, built upon expanding entrepreneurial skills, stronger and more effective farmer associations, and more productive, profitable farming practices.

• People: Healthy and thriving cocoa-farming households and communities, where children can enjoy childhood and attend school, international labor standards are followed, and farming practices are safe; and,

• Planet: Responsible, sound environmental stewardship in cocoa-farming communities where soil and water are conserved, Integrated Pest Management approaches are followed to limit the use of agricultural chemicals, and the fragile tropical ecosystem is protected.
The World Cocoa Foundation will ensure that its current and future programs will reflect these common sustainability principles and goals. It also will continue to engage with producing country governments as well as multi-stakeholder forums to advance discussions about common sustainability objectives and how best to build healthy cocoa communities. Finally, the Foundation will continue its ongoing work encouraging and guiding member company cocoa sustainability efforts around the world. For more details, please visit: http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/commitments/sustainability.asp