Representatives of the cocoa industry from across the world have agreed on a framework to achieve a sustainable cocoa economy and plan to set up a sustainability fund to help benefit producers.

The second Roundtable for a Sustainable Cocoa Economy, which took place in Trinidad and Tobago, involved about 300 participants from producer groups to processors, chocolate manufacturers and government organizations, representing 29 countries.

More than 25 NGOs, farmers and unions from all over the world participated in a Pre-conference organized by the Tropical Commodity Coalition and in the 2nd RSCE (15% of the participants coming from abroad). NGOs, farmers and unions participated actively in the conference and contributed with more than 30% of all presentations. The co-chair was Gine Zwart from Oxfam International.

The outcome was the ‘Trinidad and Tobago Declaration’ which outlines the way forward to a sustainable cocoa economy, including guidelines for best known practices in the cocoa value chain and a Cocoa Sustainability Fund suggested by the labor unions.

Plan of action

The Roundtable discussed a draft document called Guidelines on Best Known Practices in the Cocoa Value Chain but noted that this should be further improved by widening its scope to include all stages such as processing, manufacturing, retailing and consumption.

Participants also agreed to continue the process initiated in Accra and to hold a third Roundtable for a Sustainable Cocoa Economy in the Netherlands, at a time yet to be determined.