The VOICE Network: Transparency and accountability. Towards building trust in the cocoa sector’s sustainability efforts.
Sustainability has become a central element of the cocoa sector. Cocoa companies have ramped up their Corporate Social Responsibility portfolios and taken individual and collective commitments. Producer governments have developed sustainability policies and standards to build market confidence. Consumer governments have started to propose legislation to tackle their trade footprint. Certification bodies have raised their standards. Civil society and researchers have harnessed the explosion of accessible data on supply chains, livelihoods and the environment. Yet, unsustainable cocoa production continues, and the impact of cocoa stakeholders’ efforts are undermined by a general lack of trust in public and private actions. Sustainability efforts can only become credible if built on a sound understanding of the risks and challenges, which greater transparency can provide. These efforts must also include relevant and effective measures, which should be framed by greater accountability. This paper argues that transparency and accountability are critical ingredients for trust building. It aims to demystify the two concepts and proposes actionable solutions to build trust in the cocoa sector, illustrated by case studies.
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