The event featured panels and presentations by ISCO members and other high-level speakers. As poverty is often seen as the root cause of the social and environmental challenges within the sector, the event put living income at the centre, making links with the challenges of deforestation, child labour and traceability.
Overall, the main recommendations for the ISCOs resulting from the event were:
1. Work on the economic pillar to achieve more sustainability in all core areas. A clear need was identified for a more transparent and fact-based exchange within the EU as well as with producer country representatives on the issue of price and the functioning of markets. Moreover, the ISCOs should encourage partners to renew their procurement practices.
2. Work towards standardized data collection and joint analysis. The ISCOs should further align data collection within the sector and should come to joint conclusions and action points.
3. Continue to strengthen public-private partnerships in order to contribute to long-term sustainable and locally owned approaches.
4. Promote more pre-competitive collaboration between ISCO members in order to join forces in the field of sustainability rather than competing: a living income for (cocoa) farmers is a strategic goal that we should jointly work towards.
The ISCOnference also served as an opportunity to welcome the French Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa, FRISCO on board who signed the MoU during the event.
A report summarizing the key discussions and findings of the different panel discussions and breakout sessions of the ISCOnference can be found below.