WCF Member Spotlight
CAOBISCO, the Association of the Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionery Industries of the EU, represents over 2000 companies in the chocolate, biscuits and confectionery sectors of 21 countries in the European Union. The association 's members engage in many activities throughout the supply chain from the purchase of raw materials to exports and imports of finished product. CAOBISCO's task is also to promote corporate social responsibility within its sectors and to maintain the confidence of authorities and consumers in its industries. CAOBISCO's membership in the World Cocoa Foundation is a natural extension of its interest in raw materials and corporate responsibility. David Zimmer, Secretary General of CAOBISCO, notes that the association is particularly impressed with WCF's global partnerships, "In a short time, WCF has enlisted the key players around the world and has been able to secure resources and apply them in a fashion that is making a real difference."
West Africa
Go to the WCF website for a look at the first edition of the Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP) newsletter "STCP Voices." Published by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, the newsletter allows Farmer Field School participants the opportunity to describe their FFS experiences in their own words. Cameroonian cocoa farmers Lucie Edzimbi and Martin Mesongui are featured in the first issue. Martin, in referring to the money he saved by buying less fungicide after he began pruning and removing diseased pods, explained, "My four-year-old son was admitted to a hospital in Yaounde and needs an operation. I will use the money saved from using less fungicide to pay for his hospital bills."
Bill Guyton, WCF Communications Committee Co-Chair Sue D’Arcy and Susan Smith spent time in Cote d’Ivoire in early November with West African based journalists who were interested in programs to address responsible, sustainable cocoa growing. The group met with Ivorian officials, including Madame Acquah of the Prime Minister's Office, the ILO and local NGOs regarding the West African Commercial Agriculture Project program as well as STCP representatives. The journalists attended a Farmer Field School training session in Agboville where they were able to speak directly with several farmers.
Latin America
p>WCF is pleased to announce the launch of the Andean Countries Cocoa Export Support Opportunities (ACCESO) regional program in Lima, Peru, February 8-9, 2005. A public-private partnership between WCF, USAID, INL/OAS and other partners, this regional cocoa initiative will focus initially on assuring sustainable cocoa farming and marketing in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia with possible expansion to other countries. For more details on the project launch, contact Robert Peck.Ed Seguine of Guittard Chocolate visited Ecuador in November to discuss cocoa flavor issues with the farmer training project, PRONORTE, and others. He also met with the Colombian farmer training team CAPP, as well as local Ecuadorian media, providing them with chocolate flavor training and tasting.
Southeast Asia
SUCCESS Alliance teams from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam participated in the SUCCESS Alliance International Regional Conference "Building a Sweeter Future for Smallholder Cocoa Farmers" in Makassar, Indonesia in early October. BK Matlick attended on behalf of the World Cocoa Foundation. The focus of the conference was to share lessons learned and best practices regarding smallholder training on sustainable cocoa. One hundred twenty major players in cocoa development and production in the South East Asia region attended, including participants from the cocoa industry, government, extension, scientists and farmer representatives. Several participants attended a follow on one-day field visit to SUCCESS farmer-training areas in Sulawesi.
Events
The World Cocoa Foundation, along with Hershey Foods, Nestle, ADM Cocoa, Masterfoods, NCA and CMA sponsored International Day at the National Black Caucus of State Legislators meeting in Philadelphia, PA earlier this week. Speakers for the session on "Cocoa: an Economic Engine for Rural Development in West Africa" included Sonii David, STCP Master Trainer, Jeff Gray, OIC International and Vicki Walker, Winrock. Dan Runde of USAID moderated a sustainable cocoa panel discussion with Jeff Morgan, Masterfoods; Dave Stuart, Hershey Foods and Louise Hilsen, Nestle, Stephanie Peters, Masterfoods and Bill Guyton, WCF, as panelists.
Bill Guyton was Event Chairman of the Corporate Council on Africa's first US-Africa Agribusiness Conference in Monterey, CA in early November. The Conference, which covered a broad range of topics of concern to both US and African agribusiness companies, included a session on successful public-private partnership models that featured Jeff Hill of USAID and Robert Yapo of STCP in Cote d'Ivoire. Conference sponsors included USAID, WCF and Guittard Chocolate.
Make sure to mark your calendars for the next bi-annual WCF Partnership Meeting May 3-4, 2005, at the Renaissance Brussels Hotel in Brussels, Belgium.
Communications
Check out the November issue of Kennedy's Confection magazine to read "Cocoa Farming the Ethical Way" by Robert Peck. The article highlights WCF's farmer outreach programs, which support a sustainable cocoa economy while benefiting farmers and preserving the environment in West Africa, South East Asia and Latin America. Click here to view the article.
WCF Facts & Figures
Number of people in West Africa who live on a cocoa farm
-10 million