ACDI/VOCA Presents International Leadership Award to World Cocoa Foundation
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ACDI/VOCA will present its International Leadership Award to the World Cocoa Foundation September 18 at a luncheon at the Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. The award, which is ACDI/VOCA’s highest form of external recognition, honors an individual or entity for outstanding achievement in or contribution to international development, humanitarian assistance, trade, exchange or other positive international engagement, service or intellectual discovery.
The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) comprises international chocolate and confectionary companies as well as other chocolate industry organizations and institutions. Its mission is to promote a sustainable cocoa economy through economic and social development and environmental conservation in cocoa-growing communities.
The WCF is dedicated to a shared future with shared benefits throughout the cocoa supply chain, and so maintains a long-term commitment to ensure a sustainable supply of quality cocoa that benefits both growers and users of this unique tropical crop, to empower farmers to make choices that help develop strong, prosperous communities in all of the world's cocoa-growing regions, and to promote production practices that maintain and increase biodiversity and crop diversification in cocoa communities.
Previous recipients of the International Leadership Award include U.S. Representative Doug Bereuter of Neb., known as the father of the Farmer-to-Farmer program, and former U.S. Representative Cooper Evans of Iowa, who advised President George H.W. Bush on agriculture, served on 11 volunteer assignments and occupied seats on the VOCA and ACDI/VOCA boards.
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Increasing Incomes, Changing Lives
Cocoa prices have remained relatively stable for the last several years as production and supply are nearly in equilibrium. However, cocoa consumption continues to grow rapidly, about 2-3 percent or 60,000-90,000 MT per year. Projections show global production falling behind the increasing demand, clearly indicating a need for expanded production of quality cocoa.
"Through the SUCCESS Alliance, over 150,000 farmers have been trained in 5 countries."
Recognizing the importance of the cocoa crop to smallholder farmers as well as the international cocoa industry’s need for diversified cocoa sources, ACDI/VOCA is addressing constraints to sustainable cocoa production and marketing to increase the competitiveness of the cocoa sector.
ACDI/VOCA, along with the World Cocoa Foundation, is a founding member of the Sustainable CoCoa Enterprise Solutions for Smallholders (SUCCESS) Alliance, which improves the livelihoods of smallholder farmers by promoting cocoa production and marketing in a way that is economically, environmentally, socially and culturally sustainable.
The SUCCESS Alliance receives funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Private sector partners include the World Cocoa Foundation and Mars, Inc. The Alliance also includes international and local organizations in the countries where the SUCCESS Alliance is active—Ecuador, Indonesia, Liberia, the Philippines and Vietnam. More.
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Ecuador: Tomás Gracia has increased his four-hectare farm's production of cocoa tenfold because of SUCCESS Alliance's trainings. More. |
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Vietnam: An ethnic minority M’nong and mother of two, H'Bim now manages three cocoa clubs, a shading tree seedling business and her own farm. More |
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Since 2006, the public-private partnership of SUCCESS Alliance, through ACDI/VOCA, the World Cocoa Foundation, USDA, USAID, Mars, Inc., and local partners, has revolutionized the development approach to the cocoa value chain and impacted millions of smallholders' lives. |
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