Food is often discussed in terms of production, trade, and efficiency. This perspective obscures the fact that food systems also involve questions of dignity, vulnerability, and power relations. From small-scale producers in Kenya to multinational coffee farms supplying European cafés, food systems quietly organize everyday life, determining whose labor is valued, whose needs are protected, and whose futures remain precarious. To speak of food is to speak not only of nourishment, but of political choices that shape inequality, resilience, and possibility.
Mary is an Advocacy Advisor at Welthungerhilfe in Kenya and brings over 15 years of experience working for social justice. She is an ambassador of the BMZ Partners for Change (P4C) network. From 2020 to 2024, she led a project at Rural Outreach Africa to strengthen local governance in Vihiga County, which resulted in the creation of the Right to Food Coalition Kenya, which she coordinated for several years.
Food has never been just about eating. Long before it became the subject of policy frameworks or global summits, it was already about dignity, connection, and possibility.
I grew up in low- to middle-income Nairobi, the daughter of parents who had migrated from rural central Kenya in search of better opportunities. My mother was an educator, my father a small business owner. Like many urban families, we bought most of our food from the market, yet the ties to the land never left us. Outside our house, we kept a small kitchen garden that fed not only our family, but our neighbors as well. Anyone in need could pick vegetables. Those who had nothing at all would quietly receive a packet of flour from my mother’s hands.
Food systems are not abstract. They are the quiet forces that decide who eats, who worries, who thrives, and who has the space to imagine a future.
Years later, when my parents retired and ran a small shop in our neighborhood, food once again became an index of crisis. They could tell when times were hard: more people asked for credit; some came with nothing. And once again, my parents would respond in the only way they knew, by giving beans and flour freely, preserving dignity where there was struggle.
These experiences shaped my understanding of food systems long before I encountered the term itself. Food systems are not abstract. They are the quiet forces that decide who eats, who worries, who thrives, and who has the space to imagine a future.
Today, the urgency of rethinking food could not be clearer. The world is facing a deepening food crisis, and the promise of Zero Hunger by 2030 is slipping further out of reach. According to the 2025 SOFI Report, around 673 million people were hungry in 2024, representing 8 percent of the global population. About 2.3 billion people experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, and 2.6 billion could not afford a healthy diet. The situation is most severe in Africa and in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Projections suggest that by 2030, some 512 million people may still face hunger, nearly 60 percent of them on the African continent.
These numbers are not the result of a single failure, but of overlapping crises: climate change, protracted conflict, food price inflation, declining purchasing power, fragile economies, debt distress, and weakening international cooperation. In response to these systemic failures, the UN Secretary-General called in 2021 for a transformation of food systems that had long been ungoverned, unaccountable, and unsustainable.
A food systems approach asks us to look beyond supply chains and instead consider the full ecosystem of food: how it is produced, processed, distributed, consumed, and disposed of, and how these processes shape social, economic, health, and environmental outcomes. Food systems must nourish people today while safeguarding the resources that future generations will depend on.
How a Cup of Coffee Reveals Power Structures
This interconnectedness becomes visible when we follow food back to its origins. My family comes from a coffee-growing community. My aunt, like many of her neighbors, earns her living tending coffee. She wakes early, works long days on the farm, and returns home late in the evening. The cherries she harvests will eventually become a cup of coffee enjoyed in Berlin. Yet the journey between her hands and that cup is anything but simple.
Before her coffee ever leaves the farm, it has already been shaped by multiple ministries and policy decisions. Agricultural extension services, access to inputs, water availability, land tenure, processing infrastructure, export regulations, taxation, and exchange rates all influence whether her labor translates into a livable income. By the time that coffee reaches a café in Europe, it has passed through a dense web of institutions and decisions over which she has little control, yet which determine her resilience, her security, and her dignity. This is what it means to speak of food systems: they are political, they are cross-sectoral, and they distribute power unevenly.
“The cherries she harvests will eventually become a cup of coffee enjoyed in Berlin. Yet the journey between her hands and that cup is anything but simple.”
The unavoidable question that follows is this: if so many actors influence whether my aunt can feed her children or withstand climate shocks, who ensures that her rights are protected? This is where the right to food becomes central. Food systems are not only markets; they are the architecture through which rights are either realized or denied. They determine whether people are treated as passive beneficiaries, as producers in a value chain, or as rights-holders with entitlements and the power to claim them.
The Right to Food as a Political Question
A rights-based approach recognizes that the right to food is inseparable from other rights: the right to health, work, housing, a healthy environment, and an adequate standard of living. When these rights erode, food insecurity follows.
This reality is not confined to the Global South. At a conference in Berlin in 2024, a retired German woman described her inability to afford decent housing and nutritious food after a lifetime of work. Her testimony was devastating precisely because it revealed how fragile food security becomes when social protection fails. Her story echoes those of millions of people worldwide - smallholder farmers, informal workers, and those without pensions or safety nets - who remain one crisis away from hunger. This is why social protection is not charity. It is justice. The people who feed societies themselves cannot be left unprotected.
“Her testimony was devastating precisely because it revealed how fragile food security becomes when social protection fails. Her story echoes those of millions of people worldwide - smallholder farmers, informal workers, and those without pensions or safety nets - who remain one crisis away from hunger.”
Human rights also demand participation. Smallholder farmers, rural communities, Indigenous Peoples, women, youth, and farm workers have knowledge, priorities, and solutions rooted in lived experience. Yet they are excluded from the spaces where food and agricultural policies are shaped. Participation is often reduced to a procedural checkbox, rather than a meaningful redistribution of power.
In rural Kenya, we work with farmers, persons with disabilities, women, and young people to strengthen their ability to participate in decision-making. This means supporting them to articulate collective priorities, access policy spaces, and follow through so that commitments do not remain on paper. In 2022, such efforts contributed to the inclusion of food systems priorities in a five-year county development plan, leading to expanded extension services, improved social protection transparency, grievance redress mechanisms, and new employment opportunities for youth. These outcomes demonstrate that inclusive, rights-based food systems are not aspirational, they are achievable.
At the Intersection of People, Planet, and Future
Returning once more to my aunt’s coffee, the interdependence between people and planet becomes impossible to ignore. Thousands of livelihoods depend on those beans, yet only a few cents of every euro spent on coffee returns to the farmer. At the same time, coffee is acutely vulnerable to climate change. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and soil degradation threaten the very basis of production.
This is why a food systems lens matters. Food is shaped by governance, climate, land rights, labor, nutrition, and global decisions made far from the farm, including in European boardrooms. One cup of coffee connects a smallholder in rural Kenya to a consumer in Berlin, multiple ministries in Nairobi, and a climate-stressed planet.
Transforming food systems therefore requires more than efficiency or compliance. It requires placing people and human rights at the center. Policies and partnerships must address power imbalances, protect ecosystems, and ensure that those who produce food are recognized as rights-holders and decision-makers.
The future of food will be determined by the choices made now. Whether food systems deepen inequality or become vehicles for dignity, justice, and sustainability is not inevitable. It is political.
A new study on the digitalisation of agriculture puts farmers back at the centre of their own sector, identifies market gaps and gives recommendations on how to support relevant actors.
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Interview with Caroline Milow and Ramon Brentführer
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A contribution by William Onura and Larissa Stiem-Bhatia
In agriculture it is important to include political stakeholders in the discourse. To build the bridge between practical application and political action, the think tank TMG launched the Governor's Day with Farmers in Kakamega County, Kenya. Now it took place for the second time. But what are the goals and benefits of the Governor's Day?
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A Conversation with Carmen Torres Ledezma & Oluwaseyi Kehinde-Peters
Female Leadership is vital to the transformation of agriculture and food systems. Therefore, it is so important to advance gender-sensitive approaches to increase the presence of women in leadership positions in agricultural production and to make these systems more equitable, sustainable and resilient.
Studies show that women often manage agricultural resources more effectively and sustainably. With equal access to production resources, agricultural yields could increase by up tp 30 per cent. But this is about more than just productivity. How can gender-transformative approaches (GTA) drive meaningful change and why are GTA key to sustainable change?
In 2025, GIZ and the Import Promotion Desk (IPD) celebrate ten years of successful cooperation. With their joint stand at BIOFACH trade fair in Nuremberg, they were able to introduce over 300 organic companies of partner countries to the European market. And the journey continues – despite challenges on the global market.
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As part of the “Let Me Tell You” series, children across Zambia are discovering fun stories that teach the importance of good food and healthy habits such as fish. Let’s dive into one of these tales together…
This is a benchmark for everybody: More rights for women are a very influencing solution in the struggle against extreme poverty and hunger worldwide, says Stephan Exo-Kreischer, Director of ONE Germany. The organisation specialises in political campaigning as a lever for sustainable change.
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A report by T. S. Jayne, A. Adelaja and R. Mkandawire
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Oxfam’s supermarket scorecard, which is in its third year, shows one thing in particular - it works! Supermarkets can change their business policies and focus more on the rights of those people around the world who plant and harvest food. However, this does not happen without pressure.
A contribution by Sarah D´haen & Alexander Müller, Louisa Nelle, Bruno St. Jaques, Sarah Kirangu-Wissler and Matteo Lattanzi (TMG)
Young farmers’ insights on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa @CovidFoodFuture and video diaries from Nairobi’s informal settlements.
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Corona makes it even more difficult to achieve a world without hunger by 2030. So that this perspective does not get out of sight, Germany must play a stronger role internationally - a summary of the Strategic Advisory Group of SEWOH.
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Interview with Paul Newnham, Director of the SDG 2 Advocacy Hub.
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An Interview with Francisco Marí (Brot für die Welt)
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Whether it's banana bread made from brown bananas, conscious shopping plans or foodsharing, we give you five tips on how to reduce your everyday food waste.
At LCOY Germany, the local youth climate conference, views on climate protection from all political spectrums are discussed. The Fairactivists, a programme of Fairtrade Germany, participated with a panel discussion on the link between social justice and climate justice.
There are only about 1 million jobs in the East African country. The majority of the population works in the informal sector, and it can be difficult for them to find customers. Biscate offers a digital solution - without the need for internet, data or smartphones.
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Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Podcast of the Federal Government
At the start of World Food Week around World Food Day on 16 October, Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that the fight against global hunger will only be successful with international responsibility and solidarity (german only).
Africa’s largest youth generation has the potential to transform agriculture sustainably. Young entrepreneurs like Febelsa in Mozambique are building agricultural businesses that fuel local growth.
A conversation with Caroline Kayanja, Dr. Eileen Nchanji, & Theresa Herbold
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Shortly before ending his position as Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPR) Dr. Shenggen Fan talks about the reforms and new modes of operation needed to achieve global food security in the coming decade.
110 speakers from 120 countries met virtually at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) to discuss the challenges to global food supply. They asked the question: How can food systems support the health of people and the planet?
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Stefan Liebing is chairman of the Africa Association of German Business. The manager calls for a better structure of African farms. Jan Rübel asked him about small farmers, the opportunities for German start-ups and a new fund.
Supporting groups of smallholding women substantially contributes to strengthen rural operations economically. The organisation and associated group activities can help to reduce extreme poverty and improve the food situation.
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Africa has a huge opportunity to make agriculture its economic driver. However, the potential for this is far from being made exhaustive use of, one reason being that women face considerable difficulties in their economic activities. The organisation AWAN Afrika seeks to change this state of affairs.
The majority of producers in developing countries are women. Although they contribute significantly to the food security of their families, they remain chronically disadvantaged in male-dominated agriculture in terms of access to land, credit, technology and education.
A contribution by Nadine Babatounde and Anne Floquet (MISEREOR)
To prevent malnutrition among young children and strengthen the role of women in their communities, Misereor, together with the local non-governmental organisation CEBEDES, is implementing a programme on integrated home gardens in Benin - a series of pictures.
A contribution by Dr. Kathleen Mar and Dr. Nicole de Paula
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, health is receiving unprecedented public and political attention. Yet the fact that climate change is also affecting the environmental and social determinants of health in a profound and far-reaching way deserves further recognition.
Three female entrepreneurs from Mozambique, Sri Lanka and Uganda tell their stories about starting organic businesses from scratch, now selling Baobab Oil, Gotukola powder and Shea butter in international markets. And they explain why their business is almost 100 percent female.
When women have control over the resources of a household and manage the income, it usually leads to a more balanced and healthier diet for the family. But often the decision-making power lies with the men. How can this gender inequality be addressed? The GIZ global project Food Security and Resilience provides insights into project work on gender-transformative approaches finances by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
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Rose Okello is a Matoke farmer and single mother living in a village near Mbarara, a town in southern Uganda. To ensure that she can pay for her family's food, her children's school fees and other expenses on time, Rose uses various financial services. Her story portrays hurdles but also hope for women in agribusiness.
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A Contribution by Carlos Castellanos & Yvonne Bielfeld
The shoe manufacturer Cueros Vélez as a good example of private sector responsibility: the photo gallery shows how the bark of the rubber tree becomes a reliable yet deforestation free companion on our roads.
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The Cashew Council is the first international organisation for a raw material stemming from Africa. The industry promises to make progress in processing and refining cashew nuts - and answers to climate change
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A report by Bettina Rudloff and Annette Weber (SWP)
The Corona-Virus exacerbates existing crises through conflict, climate, hunger and locusts in East Africa and the Horn of Africa. What needs to be done in these regions? To face these challenges for many countries, all of these crises need to be captured in their regional context.
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The Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor 2022 (AATM) was published by IFPRI and AKADEMIYA2063. The report analyses the short- and long-term trends and drivers of African agricultural trade flows, including regional policies and the role of global markets.
An Artikel by the Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains (INA)
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Taking a look at the data (as of February 11th 2022) what the current price hike means for world hunger and what can be done to prevent from another food crisis.
Until Easter 2022, GIZ publishes a new episode every fortnight introducing people who are committed to fair and sustainable cocoa in Côte d'Ivoire and Germany.
A Contribution of the 'Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains' (INA)
Fair Trade organisations and the Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains (INA) have launched the #ichwillfair campaign during COP26 to highlight the link between global supply chains and climate change.
The oceans are important for our food supply, but they are overfished. To halt this trend the global community is now taking action against illegal fishing. Journalist Jan Rübel spoke with Francesco Marí, a specialist for world food, agricultural trade and maritime policy at "Brot für die Welt," and others.
The German government is struggling to pass a supply chain law. It is intended to address violations of human rights, social and environmental standards. What would the consequences be for business? A double interview with Veselina Vasileva from GEPA and economics professor Andreas Freytag.
A Contribution by Dr. Fatima Olanike Kareem and Dr. Olayinka Idowu Kareem
High agricultural prices affect developed and developing countries alike, but the problem is aggravated for the latter through the lack of or inadequate resilience measures. Dr. Fatima Olanike Kareem, AKADEMIYA2063, and Dr. Olayinka Idowu Kareem, University of Hohenheim, explain what can be done to mitigate the negative effects on food security.
gebana, a Swiss fair trade company, follows the principle of "sharing" with its corporate philosophy: farming families in the Global South participate directly in the sales of their online shop. Caroline Schaar, Marketing at gebana, explains the company's approach.
Many of ALDI SOUTH Group supply chains begin in the Global South. How does the food retailer assume its responsibility? Questions for Sally Roach, Senior Manager - International Sustainability Department at the ALDI SOUTH Group.
The Federal Ministry ofor Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) presented a revised version of the 10-Point Plan for a sustainable cocoa sector. The plan takes into account new supply chain legislations and current developments. A particular focus is paid to a living incomes, responsible purchasing practices and ecological and climate-friendly cocoa cultivation.
Maura Oerding has a mission: With the specialty coffee Angelique's Finest, she not only wants to enter new markets but also revolutionize the coffee industry. Her recipe for success? Empowering women from Rwanda and Uganda from cultivation to marketing. Oerding’s goal: quality, fairness, and self-determination in every bean.
Amid rising global hunger, urbanization, and shrinking international funding, informal food systems are crucial for food access and livelihoods in low-income African urban areas. The TMG Think Tank’s paper, “Working with Informality for Food Systems Transformation and Resilient Communities,” highlights the importance of recognizing and working with informality to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2.
A world without hunger and with sufficient healthy food as well as climate-friendly agriculture can only be achieved if ideas are transformed into innovations and ultimately also applied - a conversation with BMZ Head of Division Sebastian Lesch on the Innovation Challenge programme of the new Agricultural Innovation Fund.
The United Nations plan a Food Systems Summit - and now the Corona-Virus is dictating the agenda. The Chief Economist of the UN World Food Programme takes stock of the current situation: a conversation with Jan Rübel about pandemics, about the chromosomes of development - and about the conflicts that inhibit them.
In Togo’s capital, Lomé, home-grown rice costs almost twice as much as the imported product from Thailand. Yet there are good reasons for preferring the local product
Happy youngsters in rural areas, green development and the connection to the digital age – professor Joachim von Braun believes in this future sceneraio for Africa. For three decades the agricultural scienties has been researching how politics can create prosperty on the continent.
By leasing a three hundred hectare fruit plantation in Ethiopia, Lutz Hartmann has realised a long-cherished dream: to run his own business in Africa. Now he has a personal interest in the issue of Africa’s development.
Small holders around the world are often forced to sell their harvests below market value due to a lack of market and pricing information. A new app by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is going to change this.
It is 2080. We are on a farm somewhere in Africa. Everything is digital. The blockchain is an omnipotent point of reference, and the farm is flourishing. But then, everything goes wrong. A dystopian short story, written exclusively for SEWOH.
African inland fisheries are increasingly reliant on the capture of small fish species that are sundried and traded over long distances. They make an important contribution in alleviating “hidden hunger”: consumed whole, small fish are an important source of micronutrients. Only that, unfortunately, politicians haven’t yet realised this.
Lack of seasonal workers and virus explosion in slaughterhouses, rising vegetable prices, climate crisis – all this demonstrates: Our food system is highly productive and (at least for the rich inhabitants of planet earth) guarantees an unprecedented rich and steady food supply - but it is not resilient.
At the beginning of December 2018, AGRA's board of directors met in Berlin. The "Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa" panel discussed the next steps in their policy of modernizing agriculture. How to go on in the next ten years? One question - many answers from experts.
The soybean is a natural crop that can be used to make a lot of food. So, Tata Bi started a small processing business first on her own, then with a few other women, which provides the women with an additional source of income year-round besides selling the soybeans.
Chancellor Merkel has begun an ambitious European political programme: Striving for compromise in budget negotiations, an orderly Brexit as well as an appropriate response to the corona crisis. Unfortunately, one of her positions that she previously held is nowhere to be found: Africa's prosperity is in the interest of Europe.
The region of Sub-Saharan Africa is on the decisive verge of a great development boost in farming: it could skip entire generations of technological development. But how? About possible roles and potentials of digital services.
Agnes Kalibata, AGRA president since 2014 and former minister of agriculture and wildlife in Rwanda, is convinced that Africa's economy will only grow sustainably if small-scale agriculture is also seen as an opportunity.
The WWF has published a sensational study on food waste. The focus: farm-stage food waste. Peter McFeely, Global head of communications and strategic planning at WWF, explains what needs to be done.
Fish is important for combating malnutrition and undernourishment. But it is not only notable for its nutritional value, but also secures the livelihoods and employment for 600 million people worldwide.
"One World no Hunger" (SEWOH) becomes one of the five core themes of the BMZ. Dirk Schattschneider, SEWOH Commissioner about previous approaches, future areas of action, and the political will to end hunger.
On the podcast ‘From the Field to the Shelf’, Marie Nasemann calls for new attempts to promote fair fashion. An evening about burnt returns, filterless washing machines and a lot of room for improvement.
The global trade in spices currently has a volume of over 10 billion euros. But at what price do these spices refine our Christmas cuisine? On closer inspection, aspects of the value chain leave a bitter taste.
Regarding deforestation free supply chains, there are challenges and opportunities for smallholder farmers as well as for international forest governance. Also, responsibilities for companies and potential incentives for manufacturers to use materials from fair trade and sustainable sources need to be explored. But what does “deforestation-free” actually mean?
Saskia Widenhorn, Head of the Cotton Component in Cameroon and the Sub-Saharan Cotton Initiative at GIZ, reports on the Bremer Cotton Week, which brought together international industry experts. The agenda included supply chain transparency, sustainability and new forms of cooperation between the private sector and partner countries.
New insights on trade and value addition in the rice sector in West Africa
Low import tariffs, smuggling activities, unpredictable tax exemptions and weak enforcement of food safety standards: The potential of local rice value chains is undermined in West African countries.
Protectionist policies like tariffs supposedly protect domestic producers if they cannot compete with cheaper imported products. Some African countries have therefore opted to impose such import restrictions for a number of products. For the case of chicken imports in Ghana, this study analyses whether restrictions would lead to overall positive or negative welfare effects among households.
Kenya is a large importer of vetable oils mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia - amongst them sunflower oil. Due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, there were supply bottlenecks and food shortages, leading to less affordable vegetable oils in Kenya. As a response to the lack of supply, the Sanga'alo Institute of Science and Technology, took that impulse, teamed up with the GIZ and established regional cultivation and refinement of sunflowers.
The consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have enabled many countries to open up new export markets for their agricultural goods. However, smallholder farms have been largely left out. Drawing on his experience in India, our author gives a brief overview of how this can be changed.
From measures to promote biodiversity in Germany to more sustainable cocoa cultivation methods in Ecuador: WWF works at many different levels. At the Green Week, it will be demonstrated just how multifaceted nature conservation work is and what role each individual's decision plays.
A Contribution by Initiative für nachhaltige Agrarlieferketten (INA)
The demand for sustainable products and supply chains is constantly increasing. DIASCA is an alliance that works on interoperability of digital solutions in agricultural supply chains through the development of open standards for forest monitoring, farm income and traceability.
Female founder Ebun Feludu wants to bring the coconut value chain to Nigeria with her start-up Kokari. In this interview, she explains why she envisions every coconut palm tree bearing its own name in the future and how digitalization can contribute to this.
The Nyayo Tea Zones Development Corporation is committed to the preservation of forests in Kenya: The establishment of so-called buffer zones counteracts deforestation by planting trees and tea. In addition to the production of environmentally friendly tea, the project benefits the resources of the forests and the livelihoods of the communities living near the forests, says project manager Wallace Gichunge.
The demand for fair-trade cocoa is growing – but how is the industry responding? In an interview, Claudia Brück, Executive Board Member of Fairtrade Germany, and Dr. Torben Erbrath, Managing Director of the Federal Association of the German Confectionery Industry, discuss progress as well as challenges, and why real change can only be achieved through long-term commitment along the entire supply chain.
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