(Ecofin Agency) - Jean-Marc Anga (photo), Managing Director of the International cocoa organization (ICCO), calls all the operators in that sector for a better cooperation to be effective in fostering the sector’s sustainability.

“Whatever we’ve been doing all these years doesn’t seem to work. This is not sustainability as we envisaged it,” the official said.

Although action plans have been multiplied over the years to promote a more environment-friendly cocoa industry, the assessment of their implementation remains unbalanced in regards to growing concerns. Moreover, many productivity improvement initiatives undertaken by some enterprises have led to an overproduction and a sharp decline in the bean’s world price, reducing producer incomes by 30%, according to Anga.  

“It’s been very harmful to producers who wonder what sustainability means for the cocoa sector,” Souleymane Diarrassouba, Ivorian trade Minister added. Furthermore, according to Nicko Debenham, vice president and sustainability manager at the Swiss Barry Callebaut, the industry must shift away from a “selfish” focus on ensuring supplies and towards promoting crop diversity, to make cocoa sustainable.

Espoir Olodo