Country Director Côte d'Ivoire, Dr. Michael Dreyer, Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, has named the PRO-PLANTEURS project an example initiative in relation to sustainable cocoa cultivation.

 At the Conference "Challenges in sustainable cocoa cultivation" experts reported on international developments in cocoa cultivation and presented project examples. In the associated working groups it was necessary to discuss how the situation in cocoa cultivation could be improved and funding projects implemented more efficiently. The conference took place on 20 June 2018 as part of the Sustainability Week of the Chocolate Museum in Cologne and was implemented together with the SÜDWIND Institute.

Speakers included Friedel Hütz-Adams, SÜDWIND e.V., Dr. Piera Waibel, Lindt Cocoa Foundation, Dr. Michael Dreyer, GIZ, and Jon Walker, Fairtrade International.

 
The topic was taken up in an evening event at the VHS Köln. Some of the speakers answered questions from consumers and visitors. Beate Weiskopf, Executive Secretary of the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa, reported her experiences with the work for GISCO as well as about the project PRO-PLANTEURS.