2024 Partnership Meeting
Aligning for Global Action
Sustainability is the clear imperative of the cocoa sector. And yet, even as stakeholders align on calls for sustainability, driving progress can seem complex and elusive. Accelerating sustainability across the sector requires all stakeholders to play their roles – and understand one another’s needs. The forces shaping social, economic and environmental sustainability for cocoa go well beyond the sector itself. And so, strong collaboration requires open minds, innovative thinking and trust in common goals.
To continue strengthening these foundations, the World Cocoa Foundation is convening the cocoa and chocolate sector for our 2024 Partnership Meeting. This annual event unites cocoa farmers and experts from companies, governments, academia, civil society, and press in a single forum for discussion, collaboration and shared progress on sustainability in a dialogue meant to help us align for global action.
This year, World Cocoa Foundation is teaming up with CHOCOA, the foremost industry conference for better chocolate, to create a weeklong Amsterdam Cocoa Week. As the largest cocoa port in the world, Amsterdam is the hub connecting producers and consumers. It also serves as a center for innovative thinking on sustainability in the cocoa supply chain.
Be sure to join us at the Beurs van Berlage February 5-11, 2024, for this unique intersection of the entire cocoa and chocolate sector.
“Combining our World Cocoa Foundation Partnership Meeting and CHOCOA will propel us into 2024 in exciting fashion. It will allow all of us globally across the sector to align and find new ways forward as we transition toward the shared objective of truly sustainable cocoa.” –Chris Vincent, President of World Cocoa Foundation
Check out some highlights from our last Partnership Meeting which took place in Brussels, Belgium:
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World Cocoa Foundation Partnership Meeting 2024
“Aligning for Global Action”
Master of Ceremonies and Moderator: Joost Gorter
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09.00 Plenary Opening Session – Aligning for global action
The cocoa sector is an important stakeholder in development towards sustainability in cocoa producing
countries. The issue is much broader than cocoa and if we want to have an impact towards our sustainability
objectives, we must align. Aligning within the cocoa sector, with other sectors, and stakeholders, such as
governments and civil society, will be the way forward.
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09.40 Cocoa Producer Panel
This panel will set the stage for the rest of the Partnership Meeting by putting farmer voices and their
perspectives at the forefront of the conference.
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10.40 Cocoa Break
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11.10 Breakout Sessions
- Agroforestry for who? Scaling Successful Farmer-Centric Models
This panel will delve into successful agroforestry initiatives to understand the key factors that determine farmer benefits and influence a farmer’ decision to adopt agroforestry and draw lessons for the design, implementation and scaling-up of farmers-centered agroforestry models. - Sustainability Ambitions in Cocoa Producing Countries
International standards, such as ISO 34101, for sustainable and traceable cocoa, and other voluntary standards such as Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance certification schemes, have triggered actions by producing countries to develop their own sustainability standards. Standards, such as the African Regional Standard, initiated by Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, promote sustainability of the sector and enhance the traceability of cocoa beans in West Africa. This session will explore the approach of producing countries beyond EU and WAF in developing their sustainability strategies. - Traceability: Stories from Other Commodities
In preparation for the EU deforestation regulation (EUDR), specifically the regulations’ requirement for cocoa traceability, this session will explore other commodities’ traceability models, privacy issue and lessons that might be applied to the cocoa sector.
- Agroforestry for who? Scaling Successful Farmer-Centric Models
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12.40 Lunch Break & Innovation Market Place: “Innovating for Global Impact”
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14.40 Plenary Session: Fireside Chat with leading representatives of cocoa consuming countries
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15.20 Plenary Session: Fireside Chat with leading representatives of cocoa producing countries
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16.00 Cocoa Break
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16.30 Breakout Sessions
- Measuring Deforestation, Carbon, and Program Impact
This session will provide an overview of the current state of deforestation, restoration, carbon, and impact measurement in the cocoa sector. The panel will look at where we have been – the challenges, successes, opportunities, and advancements, and where we should go now. Participants will gain insights into how data can support the delivery of deforestation-free cocoa and increased farmer income. - Effectively addressing Child Labor: regulation enforcement & data generation vs community engagement & ownership
Addressing child labor has strongly relied on “intrusive” regulation enforcement and related data generation. Recent applied models that build on community engagement from a less judgmental perspective have shown promising hints of a better anchored impact. The session will explore both models and their ability to achieve a child protective environment. - How can Alternative Sources of Income contribute to a Better Standard of Living
Despite successful productivity improvement efforts and premiums paid for certified cocoa, other interventions are needed to achieve a resilient income for farmers. This session will explore additional innovative income streams to stabilize farmer revenues throughout the year
- Measuring Deforestation, Carbon, and Program Impact
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18:00 Reception – Sponsored by Amsterdam Cocoa Week
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09.00 Plenary Opening Session
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9.20 Plenary Session: Aligning for global action from the C-suite perspective
This plenary session will have three C-suite level leaders from WCF Member companies to discuss how sustainability is discussed in the Boardroom and with Stakeholders. How has this evolved overtime and what needs to be addressed, especially with regard to new legislation and extra investments needed to meet customer and consumer expectations?
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10:30 Cocoa Break & Chocoa Trade Fair
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11.15 Plenary Session: Global Comparisons of the Cocoa Sector
What are the strategies in producing countries for the development of their cocoa sector, what are the ambitions and which policy measures are being considered? What is the position of these countries to import policies in the EU, such as the EUDR, and the US and what is the impact on their strategy? This panel will allow producing countries to present their views.
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12.15 Lunch Break
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13:15 Breakout Sessions
- Global Strategies for Restoration & Conservation
While smaller initiatives within supply chains have been effective, there is a growing need for collaboration among governments, businesses, communities and philanthropies to work together in large-scale restoration and conservation initiatives, as seen with the Cocoa & Forests Initiative. In this session, we will consider the potential challenges and opportunities involved in pursuing these initiatives and determine the best pathways to get there. - New Child Labor initiatives based on sector-wide consultation
Building on the current Child Labor and Forced Labor programming and the necessity to achieve a stronger impact, WCF has initiated a gap analysis that includes an inclusive stakeholder consultation to identify areas of systemic change. This panel will discuss the outcomes and some promising trends to inform the design of a Collaborative Program. - Just Transition Pathways for Cocoa Communities in the Race to Net-Zero
The EUDR marks a significant step towards addressing emissions by moving the world towards a deforestation-free market, but concerns for farmers’ well-being highlight the complexities of this transition. We must ensure the transition addresses the well-being of both people and the planet. This session will explore innovative tools and approaches to foster resilient farmer communities and go beyond global emission targets.
- Global Strategies for Restoration & Conservation
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14.45 Cocoa Break
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15.15 The Trilogy of Farmer Income (Part 1 of 3)
Along with the WCF PM, 2024 will bring two other major cocoa conferences, the Amsterdam Sustainable Cocoa Conference at Chocoa and the World Cocoa Conference by ICCO. These events are the perfect occasions to stage panel discussions that contribute to progress on one of the major topics in the cocoa sector, farmer income. This session will be the first of a three-part discussion series, spread across the three events, with the WCF PM focusing on the development and implementation of market-based policies to improve the income of farmers.
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16.15 Closing Plenary – Is enough global action taken?
Sector transformation can only be accomplished together. To move forward and review what has been discussed over the course of the conference, the World Cocoa Foundation has invited the chairpersons of the regional cocoa and chocolate associations to discuss their impressions of the WCFPM and to elaborate on the impact of their associations policy moving forward.
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17.25 Closing remarks
The World Cocoa Foundation has blocked rooms in the following local hotels to ensure participants have rooms during the event. Rooms have been blocked for the nights of February 4-8.
The hotels and rates are:
• NH Collection Amsterdam Barbazon Palace: Single use €257.57, Double use €277.57
• NH Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky Amsterdam: Single use €368.26-€407.16, Double use €388.26-€427.16
• Inntel Hotels Amsterdam Centre: Single use €239.00, Double use €259.00
• Holiday Inn Express Amsterdam Sloterdijk: Single use €159.00, Double use €169.00
• Park Plaza Victoria: Single use €259.00, Double use €284.00.
All rates include breakfast but exclude City Tax, which is €3.00 per person per night.
Please use this link to reserve your hotel rooms.
Early Bird Registration is now open!
Please Sign up below
If the form isn’t displaying for you, please access it by visiting this link: WCF 2024 Partnership Meeting – Event Registration
10% Discount on the Air France or KLM airfare for Amsterdam Cocoa Week attendees!
For more information, please visit this KLM link
2022 Partnership Meeting
The 2022 WCF Partnership Meeting explored the theme “Partnerships for Impact” in Brussels, Belgium. Learn more. Download the 2022 Partnership Meeting Summary Report.
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
- 2022 Partnership Meeting
- 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