Invitation to interactive session; Developing a strategic research agenda for cocoa and coffee. Monday 9 June in the Auditorium, RAI, 14:00 – 16:00 , WCC

Why develop a strategic research agenda?
Demand for cocoa is growing, but production is not increasing accordingly. Over supply of coffee has led to tumbling prices. Along the supply chains of both products there are similar concerns about quality, improving farmer livelihoods, dealing with climate change, keeping soils fertile and managing pest and diseases, enhancing relations between producer and consumer countries, securing sustainable supply and production. Much cocoa and coffee research is conducted globally, but it is fragmented. Useful information is often not accessible to the parties in the supply chain that need it in an accessible way and there is scope to increase knowledge transfer across crops.

How to develop a strategic research agenda that meets the needs of many?
We have started with an online survey and interviews among professionals involved in the cocoa and coffee business as the first steps towards developing a global research agenda. The survey with farmer organisations, cocoa and coffee processing companies, NGOs, governments and researchers around the world asks what are the big research questions that need to be answered to boost the developments in the industry. Wageningen UR researchers have joined with other research organisations such as the Dutch Royal Tropical Institute use these results to propose a strategic, multidisciplinary research agenda to present the survey results to stimulate discussion about ways forward.

Aims
• Obtain a realistic representation of the current and future strategic research and knowledge agendas in the cocoa and coffee sectors
• Understand the structure and organisation of research conducted by and for private and public sector organisations and research and knowledge institutes

During the session - issues to discuss
Is this a good approach? Are there other or better ways? What do you suggest? How can the research activities of different organisations be coordinated to improve the impact and efficacy of research? Should research be more coordinated? By who and how? How can the results of research and knowledge be better disseminated and shared with to those who need to know and use them?

Contact persons verina.ingram@wur.nl and lucas.judge@wur.nl