“even though our trees are not dead, the communities are almost dead and if our cocoa trees actually die, it is not only our communities that will be affected, it means death to several communities, it means death to cocoa processing communities, it means death to the chocolate business, it means death to chocolate stores, it means death to every cocoa related business. It means a wipe out of an annual US$200billion industry, it means a global economic crisis and the only way to address this, to achieve sustainability, is to bridge the gap between production and consumption.”

HRM Oba Dokun Thompson Gureje IV
The Oloni of Eti-Oni, Nigeria
5 October 2018
Academy of Chocolate UK Conference – A World Without Chocolate
Panel: Our Trees Are Dead – What Happens Now?

“it will depend on initiatives like this, one of giving people human dignity, of giving them respect, giving them self-sufficiency, using the natural God given things they have been given in their communities where they are growing up, so that they can make a future for themselves because if we don’t do that, the consequences may be appalling.”

Prof the Lord Alton of Liverpool
Member, British House of Lords
24 October 2018
Annual Royal Cocoa Festival Dinner London
Building True Friendships and Partnerships

I am advocating a strengthening of what I will like to call the Cocoa Diplomacy, the creation of a space and environment where we can share formal and informal settings or challenges or experiments, experiences and solutions. This is not just about south to south cooperation, the conversation must be extended to the producers and consumers in the developed world. Let us compare practices, let us forge partnerships, let us for example organize business to business meetings between producers and foreign boutique specialist chocolatiers from North America, Europe and other major markets. We have a responsibility to maximize those opportunities and I emphasize again, that it will be much more effective and much more successful if we adopt a more collaborative approach.”

His Excellency Orville London
Trinidad & Tobago High Commissioner to the UK
9 October 2019
Annual Royal Cocoa Festival Dinner London
An Evening of Inspiration

“This is one of those brilliant networking events that help us to understand much more about growing cocoa and cocoa farming and the industry because there is a lot of disconnect between people who love eating chocolate, they never think beyond the wrapper really. So, these events help to create a fantastic atmosphere and help tell the story from bean to bar or pod to palate and understand a bit more what goes behind the work in cocoa plantations with the farmers, it is important to the whole story of cocoa.”

Late Sara Jayne Stanes OBE
CEO, Royal College of Culinary Arts and Founder,
Academy of Chocolate UK

……..”Whatever you do, whatever industry you are in, it is important to embrace that social responsibility, give back, make sure the farmers are okay because sometimes they don’t get remunerated enough. We need to make sure they are remunerated well……..”

Her Excellency Ambassador (Dr) Mrs Olufolake Abdulrazaq
First Lady Kwara State, Nigeria

About Us

The International Cocoa Diplomacy “ICD” is a UK registered not-for-profit international organization established in 2020 as a platform deploying a bottom-up approach and solutions to respond to the vast and growing resource gaps and sustainability challenges faced by cocoa-producing communities worldwide. ICD will build bridges between production and consumption through collaborations, partnerships and cross-regional learning exchanges that offer shared value and wealth creation opportunities that will trigger the transformation of cocoa-producing regions, return farmers’ self-worth and dignity and catalyse an empowered successor generation of farmers and cocoaprenuers to undertake ethical, socially responsible, environmentally friendly and sustainable cocoa production and engage in viable value addition and local processing activities along the value chain.

What We Do

ICD will be working to build the cocoa culture for better understanding and appreciation in producing regions through its several events and activities that will bring together cocoa farmers across cocoa-producing regions of the world, cocoa processors and traders, industry actors, cocoa researchers and experts, policy and decision-makers, chocolate makers, equipment manufacturers, cocoa value and supply chain players and all key stakeholders to achieve its objectives which will include programmes/projects for pre and post-harvest activities as well as implementing strategies for innovative cocoa farming practices, cocoa transparency, climate smart solutions, quality assurance, digitization, blockchain interventions and traceability. In this regard, ICD will also promote the business-to-business opportunities between consuming nations and producing regions towards the standardization, marketing and trading of cocoa beans, value-added cocoa derivatives and premium chocolates and authentic confections

Our Vision

To build an innovative, socially-responsible and environmentally friendly cocoa ecosystem.

Our Mission

Promote equitable access to healthy living products and services between producers and leading artisans through ethical and best practices for increased consumer’s confidence, posterity and innovative partnership

Value Proposition

A unique and unobtrusive global platform for seamless and mutually beneficial integration that aims at fostering advocacy, development, knowledge transfer, ethical partnerships and sustainability

Our Core Values

Our activities are deeply entrenched in our values, and they are in tandem with our culture and paradigm. Our purpose of existence is to achieve shared value and wealth creation towards the transformation of cocoa producing communities through collaboration and partnerships

Enhancing Partnership with

In many mores respects than one, ICD is desirous of filling the vacuum created by the failure of the Alliance for Cocoa Producing Countries (COPAL) and enriching the thrust at community-led partnership level through the integration of a North/South bridge building platform. Some of our events and activities will include: