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'Paying more for sustainable cocoa’ is the theme of the fifth World Cocoa Conference, taking place in Brussels next week. The first conference, in 2018, concluded with the Berlin Declaration, which stated: “the cocoa sector will not be sustainable if farmers are not able to earn a living income”. Later that year, Beyond Chocolate - the Belgian Initiative for a more sustainable cocoa sector - was established. Since then: 🍫 Over 70 Belgian companies in the cocoa sector have committed to enabling living incomes in their value chains by 2030 🍫 15% of farmers in the value chains of the Beyond Chocolate signatories are covered by holistic living income strategies 🍫 The pilot projects financed under the initiative have reached over 12,000 farmers 🍫 New living income products have appeared on Belgian shelves. These are valuable first steps that reveal a new market dynamic. As coordinator of both Beyond Chocolate and the Dutch Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa, IDH will ensure that ambitions on living income remain high and more impact will be generated.  Beyond Chocolate Partnership Marloes Humbeeck Charles Snoeck International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) Mark de Waard Ministry of Foreign Affairs Belgium #WorldCocoaConference #CocoaBrussels2024 #livingincome https://lnkd.in/diyVBUG

In the face of food security challenges, Latin America is taking a bold step forward with the Continental Alliance for Food Security and Sustainable Development. 🌎🌱 This collaborative effort, supported by the IICA, is not just about ensuring food supply—it's a movement towards sustainable agriculture for a resilient future. 🌽✨ The alarming rise in hunger and obesity rates in the region calls for a unified strategy to modernize agri-food systems, focusing on social inclusion and environmental sustainability. 🥗🔄 Mexico's recent commitment has strengthened this initiative, promising to enhance the region's stance in international agricultural trade. 🇲🇽🤝 And with ProducePay's support, access to high-quality fresh produce is set to improve across the Americas. 🍎📦 👉 Learn about the alliance's journey and its strategic vision in our latest blog. https://hubs.la/Q029W8LQ0 #FoodSecurity #SustainableAgriculture #LatinAmerica #ProducePay #IICA

💡 International trade is at the heart of the Dutch economy. Strengthening and making our supply chains more sustainable is primarily the responsibility of the business community, but this is not possible without support from the government. This was the core of the message we sent alongside 45 companies and organisations to the newly sworn-in Members of Parliament in the Netherlands this week. The jointly signed letter highlighted the importance of global trade in sustainably produced agricultural commodities for the future of the Netherlands and for our partners in producing countries.     With the letter, a box containing products from some of our Dutch partners was delivered, offering food for thought on the national importance of international trade chains. These companies actively collaborate with IDH in a myriad of ways, all with the aim of increasing sustainability in agriculture supply chains.     Such products are the fruit of sustainable production and showcase the importance of close cooperation and collaboration in the global markets to create better jobs, better livelihoods and a better environment, with gender equity.    It’s crucial we continue to raise awareness for the importance of global trade in sustainably produced agricultural commodities for the mutual benefit of both the Netherlands and our partners. 👉 Check the comments for the link to the letter. #grondstoftotnadenken #foodforthought #sustainabletrade #internationaltrade Adomex International B.V. Afriflora AgroFair Europe Bakker BCFoods Inc. Bieze Food Group Cassia Co-op Catz International B.V. CBL (Centraal Bureau Levensmiddelenhandel) De Monchy Natural Products Dutch Flower Group Eosta BV / Nature & More

This new paper with Fairfood explores the impacts of our joint project in the coffee value chain in #Uganda. Piloting an #inclusive #traceability approach with the additional - but equally important - goal of better distributing value throughout the #coffee chain, Fairfood and Solidaridad hereby present a feasible solution for coffee actors wishing to stay ahead of the regulations and go beyond compliance. This project is implemented as part of our joint RECLAIM Sustainability! programme, in strategic partnership with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken). Solidaridad East and Central Africa #RECLAIMsustainability #duediligence #CSDDD

The #WorldCocoaConference which took place in Brussels this week gave a story of both hope and urgency. Beyond Chocolate Program Manager Charles Snoeck spoke on behalf of the ISCOs in the panel “The quest for the living income of smallholder farmers: why we are stuck and how can we fix it?” Conclusion of the panel: 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 🍫Living income is no longer peripheric but a central objective of cocoa stakeholders.    🍫We are finally talking about price! 🍫We are seeing stronger multistakeholder collaboration (ISCOs, Economic pact,...). 🍫Producing countries are taking ownership, for example through the Côte d'Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative. 🍫A regulatory framework on deforestation and human rights is now in place. HOWEVER 𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬. Key drivers for success are: 🍫Trust and transparency between cocoa stakeholders. 🍫Stability for cocoa farmers. Beyond Chocolate will continue to contribute to these goals by increasing accountability in the Belgian chocolate sector and by guiding stakeholder to implement holistic living income strategies. As such, the initiative together with the other national initiatives for sustainable cocoa in Europe has published a statement on sustainable procurement: https://lnkd.in/eej5iPZa Ministry of Foreign Affairs Belgium IDH German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa Mark de Waard Karen Janssens Koen Van Troos Wouter Vandersypen Philippe de Selliers de Moranville Ricardo Romero Perezgrovas Anne Widart Alexia Herwig #livingincome #BeyondChocolate

10th African Grain Trade Summit The Summit is an internationally-recognised, high-level, policy conference that attracts high level policymakers, influential industry practitioners and leading researchers in the grain sector from across Africa and beyond for discussions about key grain industry issues and developing trends in grain trade on the continent. The Summit typically features high-level plenary discussions, side-events, exhibitions, B2B events and field excursions, to name a few. With its theme, “Defining Africa’s place in global grain trade for sustainable food systems”, the 10th AGTS seeks to find solutions to help grain sector agribusiness become more resilient and continue growing in the face of adversity, and ultimately contribute to sustainable global food systems. Follow the link to register https://lnkd.in/dPYw26yy

🌍 The EU-Thailand FTA and Its Impact on the EU Starch Industry 🌍 The next round of negotiations on a EU Free Trade Agreement with Thailand are approaching. Starch Europe is following these negotiations very closely, and is extremely concerned over potential tariff concessions on tapioca-based starches and derivatives. Thailand is the world's largest producer and exporter of tapioca starch, benefiting from lower production costs and heavy government support, thus putting EU producers at a significant competitive disadvantage. Learn more about our position and the potential implications in our latest position paper. https://lnkd.in/gR-3bebg #EUThailandFTA #StarchIndustry #Competitiveness

Highlights from #Gulfood2024 - Lithuania and UAE Forge New Frontiers in Sustainable Food Trade. The #UAE and #Lithuania have signed an MoU to revolutionize global food trade through sustainable food systems. With a focus on organic agriculture, sustainable farming, and climate change mitigation, this partnership marks a new era in bilateral trade. Lithuania's innovative approach to sustainable food production aligns with the UAE's vision for a sustainable future. 🔬 With a strong emphasis on sustainability and advanced technologies, Lithuania has been a trailblazer in environmentally friendly agriculture and high-quality food production. The Baltic nation's food exports to the UAE surged to 16.1 million in 2023, with a spotlight on organic farming and sustainable food production. Lithuania's innovative approach to food and beverage trade, aptly dubbed 'You are what you E.A.T (Exceptional, Advanced and Tasty)', is a testament to their commitment to quality and innovation. Link in the comments to learn more 👉 Žemės ūkio ministerija | Litfood | Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania | #StandWithUkraine | Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Global food systems are consuming 70% of Earth's water and contributing to a third of human-produced greenhouse gas emissions. Singapore, which imports over 90% of its food, is particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions and climate shifts. The shortage of supporting industries like feed and fertiliser production poses a challenge to Singapore's food security efforts despite the increase in local food farms. However, Ento Industries offers a food waste management solution that addresses this issue by reducing reliance on imported animal feed and compost, strengthening the city-state's food resilience. Ento’s founder and CEO Nathaniel Phua also shares some of the lessons learnt on his journey. Read more about the strategies, obstacles and achievements Ento Industries faced in our latest business profile article. Link in the comments. If you find this content valuable, feel free follow IndSights Research to stay updated on more insights like this. #Singapore #business #foodwastemanagement #environmentalservices #food

A new EU regulation is set to come in for the new year for coffee imports into the EU. This is part of a concentrated effort to improve the level of transparency and traceability within the industry, in an attempt to ensure a deforestation free supply chain. What will this mean? There certainly are considerations for all the stake holders within the long and complex supply chain of coffee. The most notable are the small holder producers, which represent around 80% of coffee producers worldwide, who will now have to provide more information regarding their coffee. The administration burden and systems that will have to be in place for these small scale farmers to access the EU market will be significant. Whilst a step in the direction for ensuring more sustainable land use, what will that mean for market access? With 40% of African coffee exports going to the EU, there are bound to be repercussions and further highlights the complex issues that we face in the industry, with ever changing climate issues producers now face potential further administration barriers. The values we hold at Brew Crew I believe are the force for change in such an industry, ensuring we take individual responsibility for our role in the supply chain. Committing parts of every sale we make from our coffees from the Americas, to our Atlantic reforestation project in Brazil was a decision we made to ensure we were supporting more sustainable longer term environmental initiatives. It will be interesting to see how this affects the market in the coming years and how well, we, as an industry respond and adapt to cater to all the stake holders within the industry. Coffee with a cause!