Ministers Svenja Schulze and Hubertus Heil visit RASSO cooperative in Côte d’Ivoire

During their five-day trip to Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, Svenja Schulze, German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and Hubertus Heil, German Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS), visited the RASSO cooperative, which works closely with GISCO’s project PRO-PLANTEURS. They were accompanied by Gilbert F. Houngbo, General Director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

© Photothek.net/Ute Grabowsky

© Photothek.net/Ute Grabowsky

© Photothek.net/Ute Grabowsky

The ministers visited an agroforestry plantation and learned about local practices of growing, harvesting and processing cocoa. Farmers showed them on site how cocoa is fermented and dried. They also had the opportunity to talk to Alida Touré, leader of the RASSO cooperative, as well as other representatives of the cooperative and farmers. Both ministers gained an insight into the topics of nutritional improvement, diversification, and land rights, and overall, got a first-hand experience of the cocoa production, especially in light of the new regulations on supply chains.
 
The Conseil du Café-Cacao then presented the new and digital national traceability system, which is intended to prevent child labour and to enable traceability. It also aims to ensure that farmers are paid through digital payments.
 
Svenja Schulze stated after the visit that she learned about the main opportunities and challenges around the cocoa value chain in Côte d´Ivoire and thanked RASSO and the organisation team for the careful preparation of the field trip. She acknowledged the progress made at farm and cooperative level with the introduction of good agricultural practices, agroforestry and diversifications strategies as well as certification, the professionalisation of organisations and the implementation of traceability systems. She welcomed the joint effort of different actors such as the Conseil du Café Cacao, the German Government and industry. She pointed out the need to strengthen the support of the German Government, to improve farmers income towards a living income and to respect human rights within the value chain, especially with regard to avoiding deforestation and child labour.

 

Find more information our project PRO-PLANTEURS here.

Find more information on the cooperative RASSO here

Please find the joint press statement of BMZ and BMAS here.