Moving away the smoke screen in front of the business case for cocoa farmers in West Africa

Nico Roozen’s most recent blog – composed in direct dialogue with our colleagues from Ghana and Ivory Coast – is a necessary attempt to move a lengthy, crippling and confusing international debate on child labour and slavery away to what matters most: the business case of the cocoa farmer. It is about time to take the smoke screen away that too often hinders the sector to enforce a new reality for cocoa farmers out of poverty.

For many cocoa farmers in West Africa, their business case is too thin. Poverty is the root cause, and the only way out is to create a smart mix of multiple arrangements that lead to significant income improvement for farmers and their workers. Solidaridad brings this mix into practice at the farm level (good agricultural practices), in the nearby business ecosystem (good financial & management practices), via improved market linkages (forward integration), and supportive policies leading to direct income incentives (farm-friendly levies). 

Nico’s plea received wide attention and support in the West-African media

Read the full blog here. 

Nico Roozen is the former director of Solidaridad Network and currently honorary president to the international supervisory board. 

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