Entry: Cat Alston, World Cocoa Foundation

Hello, my name is Catherine Alston and I work at the World Cocoa Foundation as the Program Coordinator for the Cocoa Livelihoods Program (CLP). The program is jointly funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 12 leading chocolate companies with the intent of reaching over 200,000 small-scale cocoa farmers in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Liberia over the next five years.

Last week I had the unique opportunity to attend the Corporate Council on Africa’s (CCA) 7th Biennial U.S. – Africa Business Summit in Washington, DC. Over 1,500 people registered for this important event. As a member of CCA for many years, World Cocoa Foundation was pleased to be a sponsor of the Summit.

During the three day summit, there were a number of plenary sessions and workshops focused on key business sectors including agribusiness. Several speakers recognized the potential in cash crops, such as cocoa, as a driving force for the private and public sector to increase the income of millions in Africa and tackle the issue of food security head on. Bill Guyton from the World Cocoa Foundation spoke on the agricultural productivity panel, and moderated a workshop on policy reforms for the agricultural sector.

The importance of agriculture in Africa and the challenges the continent faces were also stressed by the Presidents of Ghana, Rwanda, the Republic of Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, and the Chairman of the African Union Commission during the Presidential Roundtable. Secretary Clinton gave an impassioned speech on the final day that not only highlighted the potential impact of sustainable agriculture, but also stressed the need to include local women when building this vital sector.

For more information on Secretary Clinton’s speech please go to the following link and www.africacncl.org