WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The World Cocoa Foundation today announced sustainability principles and goals to help the world's cocoa farmers, guide industry efforts and prioritize the Foundation's development projects in West Africa, Southeast Asia and the Americas. Developed over the past two years through discussions among Foundation members, producing country governments, and program partners, the sustainability principles and goals are intended to help guide economic and social development as well as environmental stewardship in cocoa-growing communities around the world. More than 50 World Cocoa Foundation partner organizations from around the world provided input for the sustainability principles and goals.

"The World Cocoa Foundation is a partnership of nearly 70 member companies fully committed to sustainable cocoa growing," said Bill Guyton, President, World Cocoa Foundation. "This means helping farmers grow the crop profitably, safely and responsibly, as well as with care for the environment. Our announcement of these sustainability principles and goals will ensure that our partnerships and programs are strategically focused and help drive positive change in cocoa-growing communities where it is most needed. Publicizing these principles and goals also will help facilitate our ongoing work in promoting cooperation and collaboration among cocoa stakeholders, encouraging targeted research, and helping guide broad, farmer-focused activities across the supply chain."

The World Cocoa Foundation's sustainability principles and goals commit the Foundation and its members to working toward:

The World Cocoa Foundation will ensure that its current and future programs will reflect these common sustainability principles and goals. It also will continue to engage with producing country governments as well as multi-stakeholder forums to advance discussions about common sustainability objectives and how best to build healthy cocoa communities. Finally, the Foundation will continue its ongoing work encouraging and guiding member company cocoa sustainability efforts around the world.

In commenting on the announcement, Sona Ebai, Secretary General of the Cocoa Producers' Alliance (COPAL) said, "It's critically important that the chocolate and cocoa industry share not only the good work it's doing to help cocoa farmers today, but to state what its sustainability objectives are over the longer term. We know it will take time to improve the wellbeing of nearly five million cocoa-farming households around the world. The important thing at this stage is that we have a clear vision of what we're trying to achieve and marshal all our efforts toward this end."

For more information about the World Cocoa Foundation's sustainability principles and goals, please visit: http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/commitments/sustainability.asp

About the World Cocoa Foundation

Established in 2000, the World Cocoa Foundation is a leader in promoting economic and social development and environmental stewardship in 15 cocoa-producing countries around the world. With nearly 70 member companies from the Americas, Europe and Asia, the Foundation actively supports a range of farm-level programs harnessing sustainable agriculture practices to improve the quality of life for the millions of smallholder farmers growing this unique crop. For more information about the World Cocoa Foundation, visit: http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/

CONTACT: Bill Guyton, +1-202-737-7870, Bill.Guyton@worldcocoa.org

Web Site: http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/

SOURCE World Cocoa Foundation

http://www.prnewswire.com

Copyright 2009 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved.