Transitions to living income in the West African cocoa sector: A case study of transition management within the national Intitiatives on Sustainable Cocoa(ISCO's) in the EU
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2024-08-14
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en
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In recent years, the European chocolate industry has faced growing pressure to close the living income gap for cocoa farmers, particularly in West Africa. Along with other developments for reform, public-private partnerships in the form of various national Initiatives for Sustainable Cocoa (ISCOs) have emerged in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. These ISCOs unite industry players, research institutes, government bodies, and civil society organizations in cocoa-importing countries, working together under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote sustainability in the cocoa sector. A key goal is to ensure a living income for cocoa farmers and their families. This thesis develops a new framework that combines transition management (TM) with transition dynamics to evaluate whether ISCOs are effectively governing the transition toward sustainable cocoa production. Through interviews with key actors and document analysis, the research assesses how well the transition to a living income norm is being managed, and where the industry stands in terms of building new systems (e.g., fair purchasing practices) while dismantling old ones (e.g., unequal value distribution). The findings suggest ISCOs are still in the early stages of this transition, while focusing more on building up new practices than breaking down old systems.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen