Cocoa sector: excelling actors honoured in annual excellence award

The second edition of the Cocoa and Coffee Festival, which started on Thursday, concluded on Saturday, April 12, 2025, leaving a lasting impression and a renewed recognition of excellence on best producers.

The Cocoa and Coffee Festival concluded with an awards ceremony celebrating outstanding cocoa and coffee producers, including Kinuyuy Glory, whose dedication to quality and innovation earned her recognition. “I am very happy for this day,” Glory exclaimed, overcome with emotion. “I did not even expect that they could call me as the best cocoa producer from my sector. I am very happy.

The festival is an unforgettable one.” The festive atmosphere highlighted the success of the three-day event, organized by the Inter-professional Cocoa and Coffee Council, CICC, coined under the theme “Cocoa and Coffee: Excellence with Young People” which fostered dialogue, showcased innovation, and recognized excellence. The event brought together key actors across the entire value chain, from production to transformation and exportation, and featured thematic workshops, exhibitions, and continuous tastings of cocoa and coffee products.

Minister Luc Magloire Atangana emphasized the multifaceted benefits of the Cocoa and Coffee Festival. “I think that this challenge and these events are an opportunity to rethink the interest and the substance of the production, of the transformation of cocoa and coffee,” he stated, highlighting the potential for Cameroon to develop its local market by processing and consuming its own cocoa and coffee products. This, he argued, would build a stronger market position and mitigate risks associated with market fluctuations.

Beyond the festivities, the Minister called for a rethink of the global trade system. “We need to put local at value, to be able to process locally, to be able to develop our local market,” he said. “By consuming ourselves first, our products, we can build a stronger market position and mitigate risks associated with market fluctuations and increasing demands.” The Representative of the Ambassador, Head of the European Union Delegation in Cameroon, added that “New Generation means new things, new beginning from our youth.”

Enter New Generation?

New Generation is a three-year support program that starts with identifying and structuring homogeneous groups of young people boys and girls motivated to engage in cocoa and coffee farming in their respective villages. The New Generation approach then continues with three operational components. The future of cocoa and coffee trade depends on what producers and governments want to achieve.

By prioritizing local value and rethinking the fundamentals of international trade, Cameroon and other producer countries can work towards a more sustainable and prosperous future for their cocoa and coffee sectors. The New Generation initiative aims to interest, involve, and professionalize young people in quality production, to enhance Cameroonian region and increase overall production for a sustainable revival of cocoa and coffee farming.