ACT Report

The ACT report, Fairer than fairtrade is the result of a project that was implemented in a period of 8 weeks by a multidisciplinary team of 7 Msc students of Wageningen University. 

The academic report offers an overview of applied methodological approach and main finding in the debate around the conceptions of fairness in the cocoa sector based on the discourse among the African Diaspora in the Netherlands and emerging best practices along the value chain. The report is based on the critique that current marketing arrangements within the cocoa still rely largely on Western, neo-liberal approaches to trade and fairness. The report aim is to analyse current dominant discourses and compare them with African discourses in order to work towards a fairer value chain that emerges from African stakeholders. By working together with the African Diaspora, the report gains insights on how current discourse on fairness can be complemented and what practical implications this can lead to with regards to fair trade practices. This report hopes to strengthen the voice of African Diaspora in both, the public debate, as well as in Dutch policy-making.