Int’l Cocoa Org wants to standardize prices of cacao beans

Contributed photo
Contributed photo

SETTING standard pricing for buying cacao beans from local farmers will be the top priority of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) to achieve economic sustainability.

This, according to Michel Arrion, executive director of the International Cocoa Organization, during the Cacao National Congress 2022 on November 24 to 25, held at the SMX Convention Center, Lanang, Davao City.

“You cannot address the sustainability issues, in particular deforestation and child labor, if you don’t pay better the farmers,” he said.

“Ten years ago, we have given so much emphasis on the environmental and social without looking at the economic aspect... If we have seen lots of deforestation...If we have seen in South Africa where children are forced to work in plantations...This is because the first component of sustainability has not been addressed. The question of economic sustainability and the question of prices,” he added.

Arrion also emphasized that many stakeholders have shifted their focus to achieving economic sustainability.

“What we are seeing in the last two to three years is the question of (setting) decent prices for farmers, becoming the top priority of the agenda of many stakeholders. So, this is new,” he said.

He said that efforts to push for significant changes in legislation are being carried out in major importing countries.

“The two main legislators which are the European Parliament and the US Congress are pushing for laws that will make sustainability compulsory and mandatory,” he said.

Meanwhile, Arrion presented the global market report about cacao production. He said that there is an imbalance in the supply and demand for cacao.

“The production is growing at a rate of three percent but the global demand is growing by two percent. This gives us an important message that supply growth is slightly faster than demand. We are a sector that has a surplus,” he said.

To alleviate this problem, Arrion said the production of cacao must be based on actual demands and farmers must be given just pricing.

He said that affected farmers who have difficulty selling their cacao beans may diversify their farming practices by venturing into other crops and agricultural products.

The ICCO is an inter-governmental organization established in 1973 under the auspices of the United Nations and operating within the framework of successive International Cocoa Agreements. JDC

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