2022 Partnership Meeting
Join us on October 26-27 at The Hotel in Brussels, Belgium, under the theme:
Partnerships for Impact
A new era of sustainable cocoa, based on mandated traceability, is emerging. But who will benefit? Is traceability worth the effort if the farmer’s situation does not improve? How do we rise to the challenge of farmer poverty as a root cause of deforestation and child labor? We need a systemic approach to drive lasting impact. To discuss these questions and more, join companies, governments, donors, civil society, farmers and experts at the 2022 Partnership Meeting, the leading event on cocoa sustainability.
Meet Some of our 2022 Speakers
- Joseph Boahen Aidoo, CEO of the Ghana Cocoa Board
- Peter Boone, CEO of Barry Callebaut
- Mariam Dao Gabala, Chairperson of Solidaridad’s Supervisory Board
- Heidi Hautala, Vice President of the European Parliament
- Samuel Abu Jinapor, Ghana’s Minister of Lands and Natural Resources
- Yves Brahima Koné, Executive Director of the Conseil du Café Cacao
- Didier Reynders, European Union Commissioner for Justice
- Mark Schneider, CEO of Nestlé
- Laurent Tchagba, Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Water and Forests
- Jutta Urpilainen, European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships
- And more…
Registration will open soon. Subscribe to Cocoa Matters here to receive updates and early bird opportunities. Want to know more about the Partnership Meeting? Watch videos on our 2019, 2020 and 2021 events.
Thank you to our sponsors:
Platinum
Gold
Reception
Silver
Bronze
Contributor
Register below for the 2022 Partnership Meeting.
Please join us for the World Cocoa Foundation 2022 Partnership Meeting taking place in Brussels, Belgium, on October 26-27.
Please register here and book your accommodation at our venue, The Hotel Brussels. You will receive a discounted rate offered only to Partnership Meeting attendees!
We look forward to seeing you in Brussels!
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08.30 Opening Plenary
With Chris Vincent – interim president, World Cocoa Foundation; Platinum sponsor Gerry Manley – CEO of OFI Cocoa; Joseph Boahen Aidoo – CEO of Cocobod; Yves Brahima Koné – CEO of CCC; Michel Arrion – Executive Director of ICCO; Mariam Dao Gabala – Chair International Advisory Board of Solidaridad; Peter Boone – CEO of Barry Callebaut; Dirk van de Put – CEO of Mondelez; Mark Schneider – CEO of Nestlé.
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10.55 Cocoa Break - Sponsored by Ofi
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11.20 Breakout Sessions
- Understanding Cocoa Prices to Impact Living Income
With Michel Arrion – ICCO; Alex Assanvo – CIGHCI; Antonie Fountain – VOICE; Sam Gayi – UNCTAD; Pam Thornton – Nightingale Investments and Christopher Alliot – Le Basic
- Women Empowerment to Fight Poverty
With Inge Jacobs – Mars; Anna Laven – Rokkit Science; Pam Schreier – ECOM; Assiata Bamba Gohou – VSLA network leader in Kragui, Meagui, Côte d’Ivoire, and more
- How can public policy help fight child labor through a systems approach?
With Ignatius Baffour-Awuah – Minister of Employment and Labor Relations of Ghana; Adama Kamara – Minister of Employment and Social Protection of Côte d’Ivoire: Lauren Phillips – FAO; Matthias Lange – International Cocoa Initiative; Tim McCoy – Hershey’s; Virginie Mahin – Mondelez; Louisa Truss – Elucid and more
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12.45 Lunch Break - Sponsored by Ofi
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14.00 Plenary Session
- Plenary Session on Corporate social responsibility legislation at the EU level
With Heidi Hautala – Vice president of European Parliament; Didier Reynders – European Commissioner for Justice; Jutta Urpilainen – European Commissioner for International Partnerships
- Plenary Session on Data collection and traceability in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana
- Plenary Session on Traceability, the benefits, challenges, and way forward for a farmer centered approach
With Jean Marie Delon – Cargill, Ousmane Traoré – Ekakoog, Côte d’Ivoire; Cisse Sidikiba – National Cocoa Growers Association of Côte d’Ivoire; Adriana Joven – cocoa producer in Huila, Colombia, and more
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16.00 Cocoa Break - Sponsored by Silver sponsors
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16.30 Breakout Sessions
- Emissions, Reductions & Renewals
With Tawiah Agyarko-Kwarteng – Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative; Ethan Budiansky – World Cocoa Foundation; James Smith – World Business Council for Sustainable Development; Tilmann Silber – Barry Callebaut; Florent Dji – Southpole; Niels Wielaard – Satelligence and Alexi Ernstoff – Quantis
- Traceability for Deforestation-Free and Resilient Cocoa: Cross Commodity Lessons Learned
With Andrew Nobrega – PUR; Meike Engelhard – Rainforest Alliance; Angela Chavez – Hershey’s; Oliver Zwolsman – Ferrero; Arthur Karuletwa – Stori Coffee and more
- Forest-Positive Cocoa in the Amazon
With Wendy Arenas – Alisos; Mariana Pereira – Solidaridad; Juan Fernando Valenzuela – Compañia Nacional de Chocolates and more
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18.00 Reception - Sponsored by ECOM
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08.30 Innovation Marketplace: Solutions for Impact
- With Cocoa Break – Sponsored by Hershey’s
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10.30 Opening Plenary
With Chris Vincent – WCF; Tricia Brannigan – Gold sponsor The Hershey Company; and more
- Plenary Session on The Cocoa & Forests Initiative beyond 2022
With Samuel Jinapor – Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Ghana; Laurent Tchagba – Minister of Water and Forests, Côte d’Ivoire; Daan Wensink – IDH, Bakary Traoré – Initiative Pour le Developpement Communautaire et de la Conservation de la Foret (IDEF); Chris Vincent – World Cocoa Foundation and more
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12.00 Lunch Break - Sponsored by Hershey's
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13.30 Breakout Sessions
- Community Driven Development: Sustaining Impact
With Mamadou Traoré – Care; Selina Sumbung – Save the Children Indonesia: Fanny Doumbia – Cooperative ECAM, Meaqui, Côte d’Ivoire; and more
- Child Labor, Forced Labor: Different Issues, Different Solutions
With Elizabeth Garland – Verité; Alice Faudot-Miguet – International Cocoa Initiative; Lieke Guinée – Beyond Beans; Nelson Adbufour – Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative, Kumasi, Ghana; and more
- Public Private Collaboration to Safeguard Protected Forests
With Ruth Nussbaum – Proforest; John Buchanan – Conversation International; Doreen Asumang-Yeboah – National Resource Governance; Roselyn Fosuah-Adjei – Forestry Commission of Ghana; Ryan McNeill – Nestlé; Caroline Winchester – World Resources Institute
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15.00 Cocoa Break - Sponsored by Bronze sponsors
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15.30 Plenary Session
- US Perspective on Fighting human rights and deforestation abuses in cocoa
With Paul Macek – Corus International; Brian McKeon – National Confectioners Association; Jennifer McCadney – Kelley Drye; Charita Castro – US Trade Representative
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16.15 Closing Plenary
With Paul Davis, European Cocoa Association; Aldo Cristiano – Caobisco; Brian McKeon – National Confectioners Association; Mariam Dao Gabala –Solidaridad; Chris Vincent – World Cocoa Foundation and more
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17.00 End
2021 Partnership Meeting
The 2021 WCF Partnership Meeting explored the theme “Overcoming Challenges Together” online. Learn More. Download the 2021 Partnership Meeting Summary Report.
2020 Partnership Meeting
The 2020 WCF Partnership Meeting focused on the theme “Scaling Impact in Disruptive Times” online. Learn more. Download the 2020 Partnership Meeting Summary Report.
2019 Partnership Meeting
The 2019 WCF Partnership Meeting explored “Drivers of Change” in Berlin, Germany. Learn more. Download the 2019 Partnership Meeting Summary Report.
2018 Partnership Meeting
The 2018 WCF Partnership Meeting explored “The New Frontiers of Cocoa Sustainability” in São Paulo, Brazil. Learn more.
2017 Partnership Meeting
The 2017 WCF Partnership Meeting discussed the theme “Accelerating Sustainability through Technology and Innovation” to move forward the sustainability agenda for the cocoa sector in Washington, D.C.
2016 Partnership Meeting
The 2016 WCF Partnership Meeting was focused around “People, Planet, Profit in a Changing World” and was held in partnership with le Conseil du Café-Cacao in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
2015 Partnership Meeting
The 2015 WCF Partnership Meeting took place in Washington, D.C. around the theme “Proud of our Past, Focused on our Future”.
2014 Partnership Meeting
The 2014 WCF Partnership Meeting took place in Copenhagen, Denmark with the theme of,“Connecting Sustainability, Standards and Certification”.
2013 Partnership Meetings
The 2013 WCF Partnership Meetings took place in Washington, D.C., with the theme of, “Meeting Tomorrow’s Demand: Productivity, Quality, and Farmers’ Livelihood” and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
2012 Partnership Meetings
The 2012 Partnership Meetings took place in Washington, D.C. and Zurich, Switzerland with the theme of, “Innovations in Cocoa Sustainability: People, Planet, Profit”.
2011 Partnership Meetings
The 2011 Partnership Meetings took place in San Francisco, USA with the theme, “Celebrating the Diversity of Cocoa Origins”, and Accra, Ghana with the theme of, “People, Planet, Profit: Envisioning the Future of Cocoa in Africa”.
2010 Partnership Meetings
The 2010 Partnership Meetings took place in Utrecht, Netherlands and Washington, D.C. with the theme, “Marking a Decade of Cocoa Sustainability”.
2009 Partnership Meetings
The 2009 Partnership Meetings took place in Washington, D.C. with the theme, “The Smallholder Cocoa Farmer in a Globalized World”, and Brussels, Belgium with the theme of, “Building the Capacity for a Sustainable Cocoa Sector”.
2008 Partnership Meetings
The 2008 Partnership Meetings took place in Guayaquil, Ecuador with the theme, “Lessons from Latin America – Invigorating the Cocoa Sector”, and Hamburg, Germany with the theme of, “Strategies and Practical Measures for Transforming the Cocoa Sector”.
2007 Partnership Meetings
The 2007 WCF Partnership Meetings took place in Amsterdam, Netherlands and Washington, D.C., with the theme of, “Sustainable Cocoa Farming: Building Tomorrow’s Best Practices Today”.
2006 Partnership Meetings
The 2006 Partnership Meetings took place in Brussels, Belgium with the theme, “Achieving and Measuring Sustainable Success at the Farm Level”, and Washington, D.C.
2005 Partnership Meetings
The 2005 Partnership Meetings took place in Brussels, Belgium and Washington, D.C. with the theme, “Challenges & Opportunities for Cocoa in Economic Development and Prosperity”.
2004 Partnership Meetings
The 2004 Partnership Meetings took place in Brussels, Belgium and Washington, D.C.
Download Materials
- 2021 Partnership Meeting Summary
- 2020 Partnership Meeting Summary
- 2019 Partnership Meeting Summary
- 2018 Partnership Meeting Summary (English)
- 2018 Sumário Executivo do Partnership Meeting (Português)
- 2017 Partnership Meeting Summary
- 2016 Partnership Meeting Summary
- 2015 Partnership Meeting Summary
- 2014 Partnership Meeting Summary
- 2012 Partnership Meeting Washington, D.C. Day 1 Summary
- 2012 Partnership Meeting Washington, D.C. Day 2 Summary