The global cocoa sector stands at an inflection point, as sustainability efforts, regulatory reforms, and supply and demand dynamics combine in complex ways.
The global cocoa sector stands at an inflection point, as sustainability efforts, regulatory reforms, and supply and demand dynamics combine in complex ways. It was in this context that the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) held our 2024 Partnership Meeting on February 6-7, 2024, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The meeting convened more than 500 sustainability leaders from 10 countries representing the private sector, farmer organizations, governments, civil society and academia to explore this year’s theme: Aligning for Global Impact. Given the pressing issues facing the sector and the need for broad collaboration, we are proud that our agenda has brought 72 presenters and hundreds of decision-makers together, demonstrating once again that our Partnership Meeting is the leading global forum for cocoa sustainability.
WCF President Chris Vincent outlined WCF’s new strategy for driving progress through partnerships across WCF’s three focus areas: improving farmer income, combatting child labour and reversing deforestation. This includes an aim to launch distinctive new collaborative programmes, similar to the Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI) but that will be addressing farmer income and combatting child labour.
Panellists explored topics like how agroforestry and other income tools can truly benefit cocoa farmers; how companies across the sector will comply with EUDR starting in 2025; how to overcome traceability and other measurement challenges; the perspective of policymakers in origin countries; what cocoa stakeholders can learn from other commodities; and much more. In addition to the challenges, the event celebrated progress in certain areas. For instance, speakers from the European Parliament and European Commission shared how the legislative agenda on deforestation and human rights is progressing. And the industry further building on the unprecedented public private partnership CFI with new initiatives like priority landscapes approaches and Greenhous Gas (GHG) accounting methodologies.
“Never before have the interconnections between producing and consuming countries been more critical,” said Chris Vincent as he addressed the diverse set of attendees and the theme of aligning for global impact. “Despite soaring cocoa prices, 2024 poses formidable challenges for farmers, with adverse weather conditions and disease affecting yields in West Africa. Our plenary sessions and breakouts explored how to achieve alignment to deliver the results we are all seeking to achieve.”
We look forward to continued partnership in advance of our 2025 Partnership Meeting taking place in March 2025 in São Paulo, Brazil.
Read full 2024 Partnership Meeting Summary Report.
