Papua New Guinea on 21 April 2016 signed the International Cocoa Agreement 2010, the United Nations Treaty Section has confirmed.
[media-downloader media_id=”2305″ texts=”Click here to see the official notification of signature to the Agreement from the United Nations.”]
Pictured: H.E. Mr. Rupa Mulina, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Permanent Mission of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea
The International Cocoa Council and subsidiary bodies, including the Consultative Board on the World Cocoa Economy, as well as the Economics and Administration and Finance Committees, will meet at the Bávaro Convention Center, Bávaro, Dominican Republic, 26 – 28 May 2016, immediately following the Third World Cocoa Conference, to be held at the same location.
Provisional Timetable of Meetings, 26 – 28 May 2016, Bávaro, Dominican Republic
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ED(MEM) 1000-Rev.1
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Arrangements for the May 2016 meetings
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ED(MEM) 1001
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International Cocoa Council: Draft Agenda
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ICC-93-1-Rev.1
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Administration and Finance Committee: Draft Agenda
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AF-9-1-Rev.1
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EC-7-1
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Consultative Board on the World Cocoa Economy: Draft Agenda
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CB-32-1
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London, 19 February 2016 – As part of the World Cocoa Conference, set for 22 – 25 May at the Barceló Bávaro Convention Center in Bávaro, Dominican Republic, three extra events will enrich the programme of the world’s largest cocoa gathering, the ICCO has just announced.
Immediately prior to the opening of the Conference, in a full-day session on Sunday 22 May, the Cocoa Producers’ Forum will encourage cocoa farmers from all over the world to get together, share experiences and harmonize their ideas in advance of the more formal business and technical sessions. Farmers representing the major cocoa growing regions are due to attend, and the meeting is free of charge to all farmers participating in the World Cocoa Conference.
Working with the international civil society organization Solidaridad, the ICCO is organizing the Women in Cocoa networking event, aimed to get women in the cocoa value chain better connected, and to strengthen networks. The fast-paced event will include short informal presentations, round tables with ‘speed dating’ for participants and demonstrations of food and cocoa products. The event is scheduled for the evening of Monday, 23 May, and will be open free of charge to all registered female participants at the Conference.
Last but not least, and taking place on Thursday, 26 May, immediately after the conclusion of the Conference main sessions, the day-long Fine or Flavour Cocoa Forum is being held to bring together all the participants in the fine or flavour part of the cocoa community. Cocoa growers, exporters and chocolate industry representatives (from the smallest chocolatiers to the large players), are most welcome to attend the Forum, which is being co-organized by the ICCO with direct trade fine cacao organization Direct Cacao. Once again, the Forum is free of charge to registered participants at the Conference.
All of these events are in addition to the main Conference, which runs from the official opening of the Exhibition on the afternoon of Sunday, 22 May to the final Gala Dinner on the evening of Wednesday, 25 May. Already hundreds of delegates have registered for the Conference, which will gather all parts of the cocoa value chain to Bávaro. Hosted by the Government of the Dominican Republic, the event will be officially opened by the country’s President, H E Mr. Danilo Medina Sánchez, and addressed by senior representatives of cocoa producing and consuming country governments, as well as cocoa farmers from around the world, and over 100 speakers and panellists from the cocoa trade, the cocoa and chocolate industry, civil society and ancillary businesses.
For more details of the World Cocoa Conference, including the three extra events, and details of accommodation at discounted rates at the adjacent all-incusive hotels, please click on the logo below to visit the Conference website.
4 February 2016
Dear Mr. Sako Warren
Thank you for your open letter of 2 February.
We would remind you that the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) represents all stakeholders in the cocoa value chain, and as such, is prepared to cooperate with any actors in that chain. The objective of giving genuine cocoa farmers a stronger voice in the global conversation about the cocoa value chain, started in ICCO long before the ICCFO was established. This culminated in the Best Cocoa Farmer Award, designed by the ICCO and presented for the first time in Amsterdam at the second World Cocoa Conference in June 2014.
The programme of the upcoming World Cocoa Conference in the Dominican Republic has a Farmers Forum lasting a full day, to which all cocoa farmers are invited. This will take place on Sunday 22 May and all cocoa farmers can participate as long as they are registered participants to the ICCO’s World Cocoa Conference. Farmers are already coming from all over the world to participate in the Conference, including in several sessions of the main Conference that are specifically aimed at them and at their issues and concerns.
I suggest that you join us, rather than piggybacking on our established event with a competing conference of your own, a day before ours, for which you are charging participants a registration fee and soliciting sponsorship. This, in my view, is a deplorable and unfair practice, and is against the interests both of the ICCO and of the cocoa sector in general.
However, your members are welcome to join us at the World Cocoa Conference, and, doing so, would be able to speak to all parts of the value chain, not just to other farmers. That way, we can make progress on the serious issues arising in the cocoa sector.
We want to bring together all the different parts of the cocoa chain, very much including farmers, in order to achieve the ambitious goals that we have of making the whole chain more sustainable and of bringing benefits for all, but especially for the farmers.
Yours sincerely
Dr. Jean-Marc Anga
Executive Director
International Cocoa Organization (ICCO)
Madagascar on 29 December 2015 signed the International Cocoa Agreement 2010 and provisionally applied it, the United Nations Treaty Section has confirmed.
Click here to see the official notification of signature to the Agreement from the United Nations.
Pictured: Mr. H.E. Mr. Zina Andrianarivelo, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Madagascar signs the International Cocoa Agreement 2010 at United Nations headquarters in New York
In mid-October, the ICCO’s Director of Economics and Statistics Mr. Laurent Pipitone took part in a series of conferences across Peru aimed at raising awareness about opportunities in the international market for fine or flavour cocoa.
Peru’s cocoa production has doubled in the past five years to over 80,000 tonnes in the 2014/2015 season, and the country’s output is expected to continue to surge in the coming years. However, while the country has traditionally been a large fine or flavour cocoa producer, most of the recent increase was the result of new plantations of conventional cocoa. This development has led to the need to review and discuss with the various local stakeholders the country’s cocoa strategy in terms of market opportunities and profitability, in the short and long terms.
Pictured: The ICCO’s Laurent Pipitone makes a presentation in Lima (above); The Peru Cocoa Alliance Conference at Pucallpa, Ucayali (below); Peru Cocoa Alliance Director Jose Iturrios Padilla and his team with Jose Isuiza and Laurent Pipitone (bottom)
The series of conferences, entitled ‘New tendencies on the international cocoa market: opportunities for Peru as a fine flavour cocoa producer’ was organized by the Peru Cocoa Alliance, an initiative supporting Peruvian cocoa growers, supported by USAID. The conferences aimed to inform Peruvian policymakers, cocoa growers, investors and international cooperation representatives about global cocoa market developments and to demonstrate the opportunities for Peru to produce fine or flavour cocoa for specialized international markets.
Over a period of four days, Mr. Pipitone visited a number of different areas of the country. The first stop was Pucallpa, Ucayali, where he saw the fine or flavour cocoa fields using agroforestry systems in San Martin de Mojaral, Campos Verdes. Mr. Pipitone and the Alliance’s Director Mr. José Iturrios interviewed field owner, Mr. José Isuiza, who explained why he decided to invest in fine or flavour cocoa with the Peru Cocoa Alliance team.
After a press conference with 35 journalists, Mr. Pipitone participated in a conference at Ucayali River Hotel, with Regional Governor, Mr. Manuel Gambini and regional government representatives in attendance. After the conference, at a lunch with investors, Mr. Pipitone met representatives of regional authorities, cocoa organizations and cooperatives.
At Tarapoto, San Martin, after another press conference, Mr. Pipitone made a presentation at a conference at San Martin National University Auditorium, along with regional authorities, representatives of DEVIDA (the National Commission for Legal Affairs and Alternative Development) and owners of local chocolate companies, who participated as panelists. At the lunch that followed, representatives of regional authorities, cocoa organizations and cooperatives were introduced to Mr. Pipitone. The Alliance then invited him on a tour of Tropical Crops Institute (ICT), where they presented their research on cocoa.
In the capital, Lima, following press interviews with the national media, Mr. Pipitone took part in a conference bringing together national authorities, investors, traders and a range of stakeholders, before more interviews and a farewell reception.
On his last day in Peru, Mr. Pipitone met USAID Mission Director Mr. Lawrence Rubey at the US Embassy and afterwards made a presentation to the Alternative Development Office team, attended by the Peru Cocoa Alliance. Mr. Pipitone also had a meeting with Ms. Carmen Rosa Chavez, Director of Agricultural Business at the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture.
In total, during the week, 580 producers, investors, students and regional government representatives participated in the conference in Pucallpa, 187 in Tarapoto and some 292 in Lima, in addition to 55 press impressions made in all three places.
London, 27 November 2015–The International Cocoa Organization today released its revised estimates, summarized below, of world production, grindings and stocks of cocoa beans for the 2014/2015 cocoa year. The data published in Issue No. 4 – Volume XLI – Cocoa year 2014/2015 of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, reflect the most recent information available to the Secretariat as at the beginning of November 2015.
| Cocoa year (Oct-Sep) |
2013/2014 | 2014/2015 | Year-on-year change | ||
| Revised estimates |
Previous estimates a/ |
Revised estimates |
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| (thousand tonnes) | (Per cent) | ||||
| World production | 4 372 |
4 158 | 4 201 |
– 171 | – 3.9% |
| World grindings | 4 322 |
4 131 | 4 123 |
– 199 | – 4.6% |
| Surplus/deficit b/ | 6 | – 15 | 36 | ||
| End-of-season stocks | 1 565 |
1 601 | 1 601 | + 36 | + 2.3% |
| Stocks/Grindings ratio | 36.2% | 38.8% | 38.8% | ||
Notes:
a/ Estimates published in Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, Vol. XLI – No. 3 – Cocoa year 2014/2015
b/ Surplus/deficit: net world crop (gross crop adjusted for loss in weight) minus grindings
Totals may differ due to rounding.
This issue of the Bulletin contains the Secretariat’s revised estimates for the 2014/2015 cocoa year as well as data for the past four years of production and grindings of cocoa beans, detailed by country. The main features of the global cocoa market are illustrated in colour charts. In addition, the Bulletin includes comments on the crop and demand situation in the leading countries, and a review of price developments on international markets for cocoa beans during the 2014/2015 cocoa year.
Statistical information on trade in cocoa beans, cocoa products and chocolate, by country and by region, published in this edition, covers annual data from 2011/2012 to 2013/2014 and quarterly statistics for the period July-September 2013 to January-March 2015. Details of destination of exports and origin of imports for leading cocoa exporting countries are also provided. Historical statistics on cocoa trade and consumption, by country and by region, for the period 2005/2006 to 2013/2014 are presented for reference.
Copies of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, including Microsoft Excel files and Adobe PDF format, can be ordered by completing and returning this form, or from the ICCO Secretariat at the address below:
International Cocoa Organization
Westgate House
Ealing
London W5 1YY
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 8991 6000
Fax: +44 (0)20 8997 4372
E-mail: registry@icco.org or info@icco.org
Over 70 participants from all over the West African region attended the ICCO’s International Seminar on the Development, Implementation and Evaluation of Cocoa Projects, held in Accra, Ghana in June.
The seminar, kindly sponsored by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Ghana Cocoa Board, aimed to enhance the capacity and skills of relevant officials and other stakeholders involved in the development of the cocoa sector to prepare for and implement cocoa projects.
Opened by the Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Dr. Stephen Opuni (pictured above, second from left), Mr. Yusuf Daya of Afreximbank (above right) and ICCO Executive Director Dr. Jean-Marc Anga (above, second from right), the seminar included presentations from Mr. Yunusa Abubakar and Mr. Moises Gomez of the ICCO, Mr. Ebenezer Tei-Quartey of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Dr Coffi Noumon of the African Capacity Building Foundation (at left above), Ms. Teresa Widmer of Swisscontact and Mr. Daya.
Over its four days, the seminar covered project identification, project preparation and analysis, prject appraisal and review, project implementation and management, project evaluation and impact analysis, and project management software.
The seminar assessment forms completed by all the participants showed that generally they found the training to have been useful and pertinent in enhancing their knowledge of project management.
At the end of the sessions, Mr. Abubakar presented seminar certificates to all the participants, and thanked the Government of Ghana, the Ghana Cocoa Board and Afreximbank for its support. Dr. F.K. Oppong, Deputy Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board, then officially closed the proceedings by encouraging all participants to apply the knowledge that they had gained at the seminar to further develop the cocoa sectors of their respective countries.
The International Cocoa Organization is pleased to announce that the greatly expanded and improved World Cocoa Directory 2015/2016 is now available in printed and online editions.
The new edition of the Directory, last published in 2013, now contains over 4,100 entries, including 1,400 new entries and 1,300 amendments, to provide the most up-to-date guide to cocoa and chocolate companies and organizations worldwide.
Reflecting both the Organization’s comprehensive connections within the cocoa and chocolate industry, and a great deal of thorough research, the new Directory includes full contact details as well as indexes based on both geography and activity category for the thousands of organizations included.
Activity categories in this new edition include :
As a unique reference work, the World Cocoa Directory 2015/16 has also been expanded with over 20 reference articles produced by experts and covering all aspects of the cocoa and chocolate business. In this section, you can find the latest details of the world cocoa market, what is currently affecting it and the way it is likely to develop in the coming season; the current trends in the global chocolate market; a look at the Dominican Republic, venue for the third World Cocoa Conference in 2016, through the eyes of one of its most important cocoa suppliers; a guide to risk protection on the current futures markets; cocoa’s role in Papua New Guinea; a review of some of the latest cocoa processing and quality control methods; an informed guide to handling cocoa beans and powder in plant; and a report on the developments in the growing and increasingly sought-after fine or flavour cocoa sector, among other in-depth editorial material.
The printed edition of the World Cocoa Directory 2015/2016 is very easy to use, with a traditional alphabetical listing and two indexes (by country and by activity category) and as such is the ideal tool to facilitate contact business contacts and opportunities and present a fascinating 360 degree view of the world’s cocoa and chocolate industry. This version comes in a hand-bound, hard cover edition, with clear text on hard-wearing silk paper, and very much a luxury item at £285 per copy, which includes express courier charges worldwide.
The online version, to be updated on a regular basis, is available only in combination with the printed version for only £395. This version will be accessible via a password provided by the ICCO, specific to a particular company or organization and can be shared within the same location. The user will have access to the entire Directory database via the fully searchable online version, with full cross referencing by geography, activity category and keyword.
Generous discounts are given for multiple copy sales, and further details of these are available from Bérénice Grace Bah at the ICCO (berenicegrace.bah@icco.org).
The ICCO is pleased to be able to offer the new third edition of the widely respected Pesticide Use in Cocoa Manual, compiled by Dr. Roy Bateman.
The manual, which will be of interest to anyone involved in or concerned with the cultivation of cocoa, has been fully updated and was first published in September 2015.
[media-downloader media_id=”2504″ texts=”You can download the full 109-page manual, free of charge, by clicking here.”]
