Organised by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the SÜDWIND Institute and in cooperation with the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (GISCO), the symposium will explore the subject ‘Sustainable cocoa supply chain in times of crisis – how can it succeed?’
Confirmed speakers are: Kristy Leissle, PhD, independent researcher and author of ‘Cocoa’, Martin Gilmour, Director, Chase Cocoa Consulting. Pauline Zei, Country Director, Inades Formation and Yuca Waarts, Senior Researcher, Wageningen University.
Writing on Linkedin, Leissle said: “I’ll be delivering a presentation on the current macroeconomic and supply chain challenges in Ghana’s cocoa industry.”
Known as ‘Dr Chocolate’, Leissle has written about the cocoa sector since 2004, and her research has covered politics, economics, and cultures of the cocoa-chocolate trade in Africa, Europe, and North America.
Leissle also sits on the Editorial Board of ConfectioneryNews and has written a series on cocoa farmers’ lives in West Africa under the title ‘I Am A Cocoa Farmer’.
At the symposium in Cologne Leissle’s presentation is expected to address specific challenges that women face in cocoa farming families, “in times of both prosperity and hardship.”
Further presentations are planned on topics including sustainable purchasing practices, gender and land rights, and deforestation.
- Follow this link for programme and registration.
