Chocolate forever

This book explores the knowledge needed for achieving a sustainable cocoa chain and the gatekeepers of this knowledge. It tells the story mainly from a Dutch perspective, focusing on the knowledge needs of actors involved in cocoa in the Netherlands, and their knowledge partners. The Port of Amsterdam is the world's largest cocoa harbour and the Region of Amsterdam (Zaanstreek) is home to the most complete cocoa network in the world. The large economic importance of cocoa for the Dutch economy, and the role of the Dutch in the international cocoa chain, demands a strong knowledge infrastructure, one able to support the dynamic character of the Dutch cocoa cluster. In response to the extremely difficult economic circumstances faced by many cocoa farmers, and driven by the risks of future supply shortages world-wide, the cocoa sector is currently on the move. A multitude of public and private players, together with members of civil society, have joined forces to work on promoting sustainability in the cocoa sector. Knowledge is essential for achieving this aim - not only sharing the knowledge required to make the processes sustainable, but also identifying the knowledge requirements of the various stakeholders. In the Netherlands there is limited knowledge infrastructure that supports knowledge development specifically on cocoa. However, there is a strong potential for generating and sharing knowledge connected to sustainable cocoa, in particular due to existence of a vibrant Dutch multistakeholder community involved in cocoa. This effort to map the knowledge demand and available expertise in the Netherlands is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. It contributes to implementation of the ChocoWorkGroup's Sustainable Cocoa Actionplan that seeks to achieve sustainable cocoa consumption in the Netherlands within fifteen years and to contribute to the global sustainable economy.