Cocoa Prices Triple, But Do Farmers Feel the Gains?

By Bernhard Tröster, Felix Maile, Cornelia Staritz and Sophie van Huellen

In 2021, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire introduced a $400/tonnes Living Income Differential (LID) on cocoa bean exports, widely regarded as a key mechanism to improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers. However, this premium was dwarfed by recent price surges at the global derivative markets, which serve as a benchmark for the sales of West African cocoa beans. Yet, farmers have seen a relatively minor increase in the price they receive.

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EU Sustainable Finance Strategy: Proposals for Reform and Extension 

By Sören Hilbrich and Kathrin Berensmann / Part of the European Development Policy Outlook Series

The EU has set itself the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% from 1990 levels by 2030 and becoming climate-neutral by 2050. Currently, financial markets are clearly not aligned with this goal as investments in environmentally harmful economic activities are still taking place at a large scale. For instance, according to a recent report of the International Energy Agency, the global energy investments in fossil fuels still amounted to more than USD 1 trillion in 2023 and have even significantly increased since 2020 after a dip during the pandemic.

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Colonialism’s Blind Spot in Climate Change Solutions: Why Feminist Approaches Are Falling Short

By Bernadette P. Resurrección

Efforts to integrate gender equality into climate change solutions have gained momentum in recent years. However, despite this progress, many of these initiatives are missing a crucial element—colonialism. This glaring oversight leaves today’s climate policies struggling to deliver truly feminist, just, and transformative results.

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Decolonising International Research Collaborations Requires us to go Beyond the “Ts and Cs Apply” Approach

By Eyob Balcha Gebremariam

In February 2024, I found myself at a pivotal moment in the academic landscape, attending a regional network launching event of “Africanist researchers” at one of the UK universities. The room was a microcosm of diverse academic, cultural, gender, and racial backgrounds, all converging with a common purpose to establish a network of researchers. The organisers set ambitious objectives, including partnering to co-develop research proposals, recruiting more African students to their respective regional universities, and providing capacity-building support for Africa-based partners. This was the backdrop against which I observed the dynamics of coloniality, power and privilege that underpin such collaborations.

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