UTZ CERTIFIED code aims to bring sustainability to the cocoa supply chain

Friday, 03 July 2009

UTZ CERTIFIED is a worldwide certification program that sets standards for responsible production and sourcing of agricultural commodities. It has already become the leading standard for professional coffee growing and sourcing with care for local communities and the environment and it now is looking set to do the same in the cocoa market. As an independent international non-profit organization, UTZ CERTIFIED offers a credible instrument for farmers, cooperatives and producer groups to show their buyers that their products are produced in a professional way, with socially and environmentally appropriate growing practices and efficient farm management. In addition, it can also provide brands and retailers with a tool to demonstrate responsible sourcing practices. Many partners have worked together to develop and field test the UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside Code of Conduct for Cocoa and the first independent audits are soon to take place at three farmer co-operatives in Côte d’Ivoire. Cargill, Ecom Agro industrial and the international development organization, Solidaridad, are three of the founding members of the program and have worked together to test this global code for responsible cocoa production in the world’s largest cocoa producing country, Côte d’Ivoire. The code sets out a number of economic, environmental and social factors and requires the farmers to be trained to bring producers to the required UTZ certified level. Through learning improved farming practices, it is hoped that the quality and yield of cocoa beans will increase, resulting in better income for farmers and therefore bringing sustainability to the supply chain. So far, participating farmers have reported that they have encountered less black pod disease in their farms. a destructive fungus commonly encountered in West Africa. When asked about the meaning of certification, Drame Yacouba, a farmer in the Gabiadji region of Western Côte d’Ivoire, said: “Certification is having a good quality cocoa and a better future.” Farmers in the project have also started to look ahead, after many years of struggle, and many are making plans such as the planting of shade trees and maintaining the safer and more efficient approaches to pest management and fertilisation learned in the training. Mars Inc., one of the founding members, recently announced that it will source 100% of their cocoa from certified sources by 2020, including UTZ CERTIFIED. The Good Inside Cocoa Program has also recently welcomed two new members – Chocolate Frey AG, and Ludwig Schokolade GmbH & Co. KG. Other program members include Nestlé, Royal Ahold and Heinz Benelux and the non-governmental organisations Oxfam Novib and WWF International. The first official version of the code is now available on www.utzcertified.org/cocoa in French, English and Spanish. A version in Bahasa Indonesia will be added soon.

 

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