Cameroon: Turning cocoa sector challenges into opportunities through partnership

On 3 November, a meeting of institutional partners organised by the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) was held in Yaoundé. It brought together representatives from the Government of Cameroon, the cocoa and chocolate industry, regulatory bodies, United Nations agencies, civil society and other stakeholders.

Organised under the patronage of Mr Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana the Minister for Commerce, the meeting was an occasion for him to underline the important partnership between Cameroon and the cocoa and chocolate industry.

"Representatives of the global chocolate industry, I would like to say that Cameroon welcomes you as partners," he said. "It is not about opposing the expectations of consuming countries with producing countries, but rather about finding a partnership and equilibrium that balances these."

A partnership process taking place against a backdrop in which, according to Mr Rolland Njamsi Nteban, the Inspector-General of the Ministry for Employment and Social Security, representing the Minister, George Owana, "The fight against child labour is one of the key challenges for social progress".

Under the theme: 'Turning social challenges into opportunities for partnership towards a responsible and sustainable cocoa sector in Cameroon', stakeholders discussed a number of topics, including:

• The current state of the Cameroonian cocoa sector: challenges, issues and prospects for sustainability;
• Developments in European policies regarding corporate human rights due diligence;
• Cameroonian legislation and international commitments regarding the protection of human rights and children's rights;
• Strengthening partnerships to prevent and combat child labour and forced labour in the cocoa supply chain.

Mr Michael Ndoping, Director General of the ONCC opened the discussion by highlighting the progress Cameroon has made in the cocoa sector, with recent increases in production volumes and quality improvements.

The importance of the producer behind the cocoa, in particular from a sustainability lens, was underlined by the Executive Secretary of the CICC, Mr Omer Gatien Maledy: "The foundation of sustainability is the individual - the man or woman who will grow the cocoa".

Evolving expectations from markets such as the European Union were set out by Loïc Bruckert, who referenced the concrete implications CSDDD and the FLR will have on Cameroon's cocoa sector. Ms Mbouzie Ahanda Angélique Salomé Abah, with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, emphasized the government's willingness to work with all operators in supporting the application of this legislation.

ICI's Executive Director Matthias Lange called on all stakeholders to work together to strengthen a responsible and sustainable cocoa sector in Cameroon. "All these requirements require setting up systems that can be costly and require capacity. This is a challenge, but here too legislation can be seen as an opportunity - to speed up the implementation of necessary measures, which can be rolled out in Cameroon at an accelerated pace."