Opening 2e Wereldconferentie Cacao

Toespraak | 10-06-2014

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you saw in the film, we have a mission ahead of us over the next few days.

If we want cocoa farmers in Africa, Latin America and Asia to still be cocoa farmers in about twenty years ...

If we want businesses here and in the rest of the world to still be able to produce their millions of miles of candy bars...

So that we, consumers, can still eat chocolate ...

Then the time for action is now.

Right now, we are all here together: farmers – there are some fifty of you from all over the world, as well as traders, representatives from the processing industry, retail, governments and consumers.

We are literally in a key location in the supply chain: a stone's throw away from the port through which 20% of the world’s cocoa is imported.

The problem is clear: demand for cocoa is outstripping supply.

We do have one common interest: reversing this trend and securing the future supply of cocoa.

Ladies and gentlemen, what is our mission? To strengthen the supply chain and make it more sustainable. This is in all our interests.

In Abidjan in 2012, we agreed to take on an international approach to revitalize the cocoa industry and to this end we drew up a global agenda. It is now time to review the progress we have made, and establish objectives that are more quantifiable to make concrete agreements that result in action.

We have certainly not been sitting on the sidelines until now.

On the contrary. Since 2012 and long before then, the industry, governments and farmers' associations have been turning the tide. Through local projects, training farmers, promoting fair trade and certification to guarantee sustainable production. Our efforts have met with varying success: there are often local improvements, but efforts are too fragmented to fully deal with the size and complexity of the issue.

A more holistic approach is therefore needed.

An approach that ensures increased productivity and conservation of biodiversity.

An approach that at the same time leads to improved welfare and higher income for farmers, so their children can go to school. And child labour is eliminated, once and for all.

This is our task over the coming few days.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The cocoa sector is of great importance to the Netherlands. Many parts of the international cocoa chain converge here. Amsterdam is the world's largest cocoa port. Annually, a staggering 600,000 tonnes of beans are imported here from cocoa producing countries. The bulk of this is processed into semi-finished products in the Zaan area, just north of Amsterdam. The biggest chocolate production facility in Europe is located in the Netherlands. Mars in Veghel produces 7.2 billion bars annually. That’s enough chocolate to stretch four times around the equator.

As we are such a key player in the cocoa sector, I think it is only natural that the Netherlands takes responsibility. In fact, this is our duty!

We take responsibility by hosting this conference, but also by ensuring that all stakeholders in the Netherlands make joint agreements.

In 2010 the industry, NGOs and governments committed to 100% certified sustainable cocoa consumption by 2025. The first signs are encouraging. We have achieved our initial targets. In 2012, 20% of cocoa consumed in the Netherlands was sustainably produced.

The key to that success lies in cooperation between all the stakeholders, through participation in the Choco Work Group. We invest in public-private partnerships for sustainable cocoa around the world. Involving various stakeholders in producer and consumer countries and addressing various challenges.

We do this with funding from the government and the private sector.

Take for example Ghana, where the Dutch Embassy and Solidaridad, a Dutch NGO, have set up the Cocoa Rehabilitation and Intensification Programme.

Together with private industry partners and other technical service providers, international and local, we help farmers to implement the best agronomic and farm management practices. These are set out by the Rural Service Centers.

A total of 20 of these privately run Service Centers will be established and operated to provide knowledge, information and input for cocoa farming communities.

The goal is to enhance their productivity from the current average of 400 kg to at least 1000 kg per hectare.

Each Center is expected to eventually become self-financing and sustain service to 2,000 farms.

We also strengthen producer groups and make best practices visible. We promote transparency, so that it is clear who takes what actions and who is left behind. We encourage and facilitate SMEs in making the transition to sustainable cocoa. We are also raising Dutch consumer awareness of cocoa and the challenges faced by farmers in the production, to encourage the consumption of sustainably-produced chocolate.

Lastly, we have developed a monitoring system to review progress in reaching our agreed targets. To keep us focused on achieving our goal: fully sustainable cocoa consumption in the Netherlands by 2025.

However, as significant as that progress may be, I do realise that production is not yet sustainable, and that not all the problems have been solved.

Because, ladies and gentlemen, we won’t get there using only the current methods. Certification programmes have proved to be very useful.

They have helped to raise awareness of the economic, social and environmental challenges in the cocoa sector. They have contributed to the shift towards more sustainable practices. And in the Netherlands, certification is an important tool for making consumers aware of the impact of their behaviour.

But certification brings with it the risk that we also lose sight of the importance of an integral approach. Transforming the cocoa industry into a sustainable economic sector requires investment in innovative solutions that go beyond certification, and that allow producers to access a full range of services for sustainable intensification of the production system.

We need to invest in an integrated approach that improves the farmer’s position. This also means ensuring a fair price.

I am convinced farmers can only improve and develop if they are rewarded for the quality of their product. A vital cocoa industry can only exist if we all are willing to reward quality cocoa beans and pay a fair price.

I trust you will keep this in mind when you make agreements in the coming days, and I wish you every success in your efforts.

Thank you for your attention.