VOICE’s week in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

From 18–21 November 2025, VOICE Network’s Managing Director Antonie Fountain and Head of Strategic Partnerships Suzan Yemidi spent a week in Abidjan to launch the 2025 Cocoa Barometer and strengthen relationships with key partners across the cocoa sector. Here’s what they were up to:

On 19 November, VOICE officially launched the 2025 Cocoa Barometer in Abidjan as part of our broader vision to decentralize our work and root key sector conversations in producer countries. The event brought together members of the Diplomatic Corps, representatives of the CCC, private-sector actors, international and national CSOs, and cooperatives. After presenting key insights from the Barometer, the session continued with a panel discussion on the long-term sustainability of pricing mechanisms and how they can better support farmer incomes.

The following day, PICD hosted a highly interactive technical working session on the strengths and weaknesses of current pricing strategies. Participants examined how the pricing mechanism could be improved to better reflect farmers’ aspirations while taking global market dynamics into account. The discussion concluded with a joint commitment to develop a formal recommendation to the CCC on strengthening the system to ensure it works more effectively for farmers.

Throughout the week, Antonie and Suzan also held strategic bilateral meetings with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (led by H.E. Ambassador Kelderhuis), the ICCO (led by Michele Arrion), the Conseil du Café-Cacao (represented by Madame Carine Poe), and the International Cocoa Initiative (led by Msr. Mel Allain Didier Lath). These conversations focused on how to deepen collaboration to strengthen governance, improve human rights due diligence, enhance farmer agency, and continue protecting children in the cocoa sector.

 

All in all, it was a deeply productive and energizing week for VOICE — one that reinforced the importance of good governance, living incomes, transparency, and, above all, the meaningful inclusion of farmers in shaping the future of the cocoa sector.