Updates, Links & Downloads

Updates

January 31st, 2024
Official end of the CoVaCoa project

After three and a half years, the CoVaCoa project is officially over, but we will keep going! In 2024, we will continue to present and discuss the empirical results of our research at international conferences. Thus, it will be worth visiting this CoVaCoa project website from time to time, as we will link our future publications here. Just move through this page and you will find all the updates and files to download. The first publications to be followed by several others are presented here. We would like to thank everyone who has joined and supported us over the years: from the initial idea of the project, to the conception of the application, the implementation of the ideas, our participants in the surveys and interviews, and the many interested students and relatives. Our special thanks go to our funding organisation, the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), as well as to our partners and colleagues at Weinrich Schokolade! We would also like to thank our project advisory board members from various institutions: Albrecht & Dill Trading GmbH Rainforest Alliance Gesellschaft für Internationale Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (GIZ) The Moringa Fund Olam Cocoa and the Association of companies involved in raw cocoa trading. With this in mind, the entire CoVaCoa team is looking forward to continuing our good cooperation!

November 29th, 2023
Big CoVaCoa Final Workshop

Our CoVaCoa project is coming to an end.

For this reason, participants from the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU), the Gesellschaft für Internationale Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Rainforest Alliance, the Albrecht & Dill Trading GmbH, Weinrich Chocolate and Osnabrück University met at the end of November in the Bohnenkamphaus of the Botanical Garden in Osnabrück. The three work packages (WP 1, WP 2, WP 3) of the different institutes presented their results both in the form of traditional presentations and at individual tables during two project walks.
This format led to lively discussions, exchange of ideas and networking. The event ended with a cosy get-together in the beautiful ambience of the Helikoniensaal in the snow-covered Botanical Garden.

We would like to thank all participants for taking the time to celebrate the end of the CoVaCoa project with us!

August until September 2023
Excursion of the Major Study Project in Ghana

Making cocoa more sustainable: Students research sustainable cocoa production Child labour, deforestation of the rainforest and poor working conditions - these are the conditions under which cocoa is often produced. Sixteen geography students from the Osnabück University have now tackled these problems in dialogue with farmers. They travelled to Ghana for a fortnight as part of the so-called Major Study Project and were accompanied by economic geographers Prof. Dr Martin Franz and Jana Rülke. The students investigated the impact of education and gender equality programmes, for example, and whether it is possible to switch to organic cocoa. Initial results show that adult education programmes, for example, can improve the living conditions of farmers. "The students' field research builds on the CoVaCoa project, in which Osnabrück University has been cooperating with Weinrich Schokolade from Herford for three years and which is funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation," explains Franz. "The aim of the project was to find out how the cultivation, production and consumption of cocoa can become more sustainable." To this end, the students travelled to the Suhum region in Ghana. Two projects have already been implemented here by the Ghanaian cooperative Kuapa Kokoo and Weinrich. In this context, 1350 cocoa farmers took part in literacy courses. 200 farmers have now been interviewed by the students. "The students wanted to find out how the measures work in the long term and how they can be optimised," says Franz. "The adult education project, in which farmers learn to read, write and calculate, not only enables them to participate better in society, but also prevents them from being taken advantage of by middlemen when selling their products and enables them to read instructions on the correct use of fertilisers or pesticides." Project manager Mayarí Chúa Soto from Weinrich explains: "We hope to receive suggestions from the students as to what we can do even better in the project work and what the long-term effects of the measures are." "It is precisely this practical relevance that makes the large-scale study project particularly exciting for the students. It's great that their research won't end up in a drawer, but will be utilised by Weinrich," explains Jana Rülke from the Institute of Geography. However, it will be some time before the results are available: Back in Osnabrück, the students will attend a follow-up seminar in which the data obtained will be analysed and presented.

May until October 2023
Special exhibition of the Museum of Industrial Culture: World Trade. History, Present, Perspectives

We are delighted that our CoVaCoa project is part of the special exhibition "World Trade. History, Present, Perspectives" of the Museum of Industrial Culture Osnabrück (MIK). The Future Room of the special exhibition is all about the future of world trade. There, interested visitors can find out about our DBU-funded project as part of a small installation, along with other exciting projects.
Have fun visiting the MIK in Osnabrück!

March 2023
Data collection in Ghana

Miles Ahlemann has travelled to Ghana again this year. This month, he will be conducting in-depth interviews with government employees. He will also have the opportunity to take part in training sessions organised by various farmers' cooperatives

August until October 2022
Data collection in Ghana

It's travel time again in the WG Human Geography with focus on economic geography: Our research assistant Jana Rülke is currently in Ghana to collect data for the CoVaCoa project, which is funded by the DBU, as well as for her dissertation. On site she is meeting cocoa farmers from different cooperatives, representatives of governmental organizations, cocoa traders and chocolate companies. She gains deep insights into the complex cocoa production network, from bean to bar.

5th until 8th of July 2022
International Association People - Environment Studies Conference

In July, the four research assistants of the CoVaCoa project: Shirin Betzler, Miles Ahlemann, Hannes Campe and Jana Rülke were supposed to travel to Lisbon for the 27th conference of the
International Association People - Environment Studies (IAPS).
This year's conference is titled: "Global challenges, local impacts: rethinking governance, sustainability and consumption in light of climate change". Due to the ongoing pandemic situation, the conference will therefore take place digitally again this year. We are represented with one poster presentation & three presentations in the form of individual contributions.

February until April 2022
Data collection in Ghana

Miles Ahlemann is currently in Ghana to explore the governance structure of Ghana's cocoa sector through qualitative interviews. These interviews with representatives of Cocobod's various departments focus on Cocobod's perception of problems and decision-making processes, as well as the most recent measures to promote economic, social, and environmental sustainability within the sector. After approximately two months of studying the main state actor, he is now about to leave for the Ashanti region to capture the perspective of diverse private sector actors there. This section of the study will focus on the effects of the previously examined state measures on non-state actors. It will also examine the scope and relevance of non-state actors and private sector initiatives in promoting social and environmental sustainability within Ghana's cocoa sector.

December 2021
Implementation of the consumer survey in Germany Experiments of work package WP3

In December 2021, an online experiment was conducted to investigate how consumers of chocolate react to different types of messages. Approximately 800 test persons participated in this experiment, each of whom read one of four different texts. These texts were either personal or objective reports about cocoa farming in Ghana, describing either the problems of unsustainable or the opportunities of sustainable production. Subsequently, we surveyed the impact of each type of message on the actual willingness to pay a premium for certified chocolate. The results will be evaluated and published during 2022.

October 14th, 2021
1st Design Workshop with participants from the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU), the project advisory board members as well as the CoVaCoa project team.

In October 2021, the 1st CoVaCoa design workshop took place in an online format to present preliminary results, provide a space for exchange, bring together perspectives and stimulate practice transfer. In addition to the project members of Osnabrück University, the project advisory board members as well as practice partners participated. After short presentations on the current research status held by the individual working groups, the state of knowledge on individual parts of the value chain was compiled in small groups in the form of a "world café" and later discussed together in the large group. This gave all virtual participants the opportunity to contribute their own perspectives. The expertise and diverse perspectives of the participants led to stimulating discussions. This gave all participants the opportunity to gain new insights. The second design workshop will take place in fall 2022.

September until October 2021
Excursion of the Major Study Project in Ghana

As part of the major study project "From the bean to the bar - the global production network of chocolate" of the Master Economic and Social Geography of Prof. Dr. Martin Franz, he traveled with 18 students for 2.5 weeks to Ghana. They were accompanied by Isaac Ntiamoah (Albrecht & Dill Trading GmbH) and Jana Rülke (IfG, UOS). Together they interviewed 210 cocoa smallholder farmers from three different cooperatives in six different locations: in Bosome Freho, in Potroase near Suhum, in Nkaseim and Dadieso near Goaso, and in Asenkyem, Juansa and Bompata near Konongo. For the quantitative data collection, they were supported partly by Kuapa Kokoo, the world's largest smallholder farmers' cooperative.
On the way from Accra to Kumasi, they visited the Fairafric chocolate factory in Suhum. There, they learned a lot about how cocoa is turned into chocolate and, of course, were allowed to taste it. In Kumasi, they met representatives of our project advisory board member, the cocoa trading company Olam Cocoa. In New Tafo Akyem, they spent half a day at the Cocoa Research Institute Ghana (CRIG), the research department of the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod). During a tour around the CRIG campus, they learned, among other things, about the different fermentation techniques and how they affect the taste of chocolate, how hand-pollination of cocoa trees works, and the various products already made from cocoa in Ghana. Back in Accra, a meeting was held with cocoa researcher Kristy Leissle, who was involved in the founding of the Cocoapreneurship Institute Ghana and the development of the African Cocoa & Chocolate Expo, among other things. In addition to the field trip dates, students had the opportunity to conduct interviews for their own study projects at all locations. The results were presented at a public colloquium on January 26th, 2022.

September until November 2021
Data collection in Ghana

Jana Rülke, a member of the project team, traveled to Ghana for three months to conduct on-site interviews with various actors in the cocoa production network and to present the CoVaCoa project in Ghana's cocoa industry. At the beginning, she was accompanied by Isaac Ntiamoah, who works for the project advisory board member Albrecht & Dill Trading GmbH. In Accra, Tema, Kumasi, Bosome Freho, Goaso and Konongo they conducted discussions, interviews and surveys. In the process, they gained numerous valuable insights into various cultivation methods and were able to follow individual steps of the cocoa process. The focus was on the individual perspectives of the smallholder farmers. At the same time, a preliminary excursion was carried out for the excursion of the major study project of the Master Economic and Social Geography, which will take place in September and October 2021. Due to the ongoing worldwide pandemic and the constantly dynamic developing situations, it was for a long time unclear whether this research trip could take place, which is why the joy was all the greater when it could be realized. From August to September 2022, Jana Rülke will travel to Ghana again for her research work.

Publications

Betzler, S., Kempen, R., & Mueller, K. (2021). Sustainable Consumption, Theory of Planned Behavior, Value-Belief-Norm Theory, Self-Conscious, Problem Awareness. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 29(2), 125-138.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504509.2021.1930272

Franz, M., & Rülke, J. (2022). The good story of the chocolate from Ghana. Geographische Rundschau, 9, 38-43.
https://www.westermann.de/anlage/4649240/Die-gute-Geschichte-von-der-Schokolade-aus-Ghana

Janssen, C. (2023, under review). Consumers’ Problem Awareness, Attitudes towards, and Purchase Behavior of Sustainable Chocolate: Understanding the Impact of Sustainability Labels. Social Science Research Network.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4708492