Last week, 41 players from the Swiss cocoa and chocolate sector, including FarmStrong Foundation, joined forces to form the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa.
The objective of the new platform is to bring together organisations from the private sector, public sector, civil society and research institutes to promote sustainability in the cocoa sector. The member organisations – which include the association ChocoSuisse and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) – aim to considerably improve the living conditions of cocoa farmers and to create an attractive cocoa sector for current and future generations.
The Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa is aiming that by 2025, at least 80 per cent of the cocoa products imported into Switzerland should be from sustainable means. The platform’s activities will focus on farmer welfare, climate resilience and biodiversity, traceability and measures to improve quality. Key to its progress will be to promote an effective dialogue between the local authorities, organisations and cocoa smallholders in the producing countries.
The platform will use the expertise of its members to develop and implement innovative solutions. FarmStrong Foundation’s Founder and executive director Michiel Hendriksz commented “We look forward to supporting the platform with our expertise and experience on the ground in cocoa growing communities, improving the farming systems and lives of the people in these communities to maximise the impact”. Our approach based on a thorough situation analysis and focus on improving health, education, nutrition and gender equality as basic prerequisites for sustainable agricultural, social or economic development, fits well in the overarching objectives.