Implementing Partner: ACDI/VOCA
ACDI/VOCA is a private, nonprofit organization that promotes broad-based economic growth and the development of civil society in emerging democracies and developing countries. Offering a comprehensive range of technical assistance services, ACDI/VOCA addresses the most pressing and intractable development problems.

Driven by the goal of adding value to local enterprise, which underlies prosperous free markets and stable democracies, ACDI/VOCA works in the areas of community development, enterprise development, financial services, and agribusiness systems.

For more information on ACDI/VOCA, please visit: www.acdivoca.org.

Donor: USDA
The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) works to improve foreign market access for U.S. products, build new markets, improve the competitive position of U.S. agriculture in the global marketplace, and provide food aid and technical assistance to foreign countries

FAS has the primary responsibility for USDA’s international activities—market development, trade agreements and negotiations, and the collection and analysis of statistics and market information. It also administers USDA’s export credit guarantee and food aid programs, and helps increase income and food availability in developing nations by mobilizing expertise for agriculturally led economic growth.

FAS also enhances U.S. agriculture’s competitiveness by providing linkages to global resources and international organizations.

For more information on the United States Department of Agriculture and its Foreign Agriculture Service, please visit: www.fas.usda.gov.

Donor: USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms. USAID is an independent federal government agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. Its work supports long-term and equitable economic growth and advances U.S. foreign policy objectives by supporting economic growth, agriculture and trade, global health, and democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance.

USAID provides assistance in four regions of the world including sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Near East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Eurasia.

With headquarters in Washington, D.C. and field offices around the world, USAID works in close partnership with private voluntary organizations, indigenous organizations, universities, American businesses, international agencies, other governments, and other U.S. government agencies. USAID has working relationships with more than 3,500 American companies and over 300 U.S.-based private voluntary organizations.

For more information on the United States Agency for International Development, please visit: www.usaid.gov.

Industry Partner: World Cocoa Foundation
The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) is comprised of international chocolate and confectionary companies as well as international chocolate organizations and associations. Its mission is to promote a sustainable cocoa economy through economic and social development and environmental conservation in cocoa growing communities.

The WCF is dedicated to a shared future with shared benefits throughout the cocoa supply chain and so maintains long-term commitment to ensure a sustainable supply of quality cocoa that benefits both growers and users of this unique tropical crop; to empower farmers to make choices that help develop strong, prosperous communities in all of the world's cocoa-growing regions; and to promote production practices that maintain and increase biodiversity and crop diversification in cocoa communities

The WCF achieves its goals by building partnerships with cocoa farmers, origin governments and agricultural, development, and environmental organizations;  working with international donors to support effective programs; supporting and applying demand-led research that improves crop yields and quality; and supporting training and education that improves the health, safety and well-being of cocoa farming families

The World Cocoa Foundation is a comprehensive program which “takes science into the field,” improving production efficiency, increasing farmer yields, and using cocoa to promote production reforestation of degraded tropical lands—all in a sustainable, environmentally responsible manner.

For more information on the World Cocoa Foundation, please visit: www.worldcocoafoundation.org.

Industry Partner: Mars Inc.
Today Mars Inc. is an $18 billion a year, privately owned business operating in over 100 countries, making it one of the largest “small family businesses” in the world.

The five guiding principles of Mars Inc.—quality, responsibility, mutuality, efficiency and freedom—lead the company to work within partnerships that are constructed to ensure an abundant long-term supply of cocoa, that address the social and economic needs of small-scale cocoa farmers and that encourage respect and diversity of natural habitats in and around cocoa communities.

For many years, Mars Inc. has helped bring the cocoa industry together with leaders in related fields to create and fund beneficial research and technology transfer programs. These programs provide education and training for farmers, develop pest and disease resistant cocoa trees and pioneer new avenues of cocoa research.

Mars Inc., home of some of the world's most-loved confectionery products and a major user of cocoa, seeks to develop the most responsible methods of cocoa production. Through its work with this unique crop, Mars Inc. aims to develop and share mutual benefits throughout the entire supply chain.

For more information on Mars Inc. or its Cocoa Sustainability Team, please visit: www.mars.com and www.cocoasustainability.mars.com.