Regenerating Cocoa Landscapes Through Strategic Alliances and Territorial Innovation
At the heart of sustainable cocoa lies a question that continues to shape global conversations: Can we pay more for cocoa that regenerates landscapes and improves lives?
While premium chocolate brands and niche markets offer one answer, the broader transformation of cocoa systems requires something deeper: alliances that connect producers, institutions, and territories around shared goals.
Challenges and solutions for a socio-environmental evaluation framework of sustainable development interventions.
The scientific literature is abundant, and the assessment instruments are varied and sophisticated. However, there is a challenge in identifying an instrument that can compare the impact on different ecosystems and at different scales, both on ecosystem services and societal demands and at a reasonable cost, of interventions with convincing theory of change.
SLAT: A Journey Rooted in Landscape and Legacy
The SLAT (Sustainability Landscape Assessment Tool) was born from over 15 years of hands-on experience in tropical landscape sustainability, particularly within the coffee value chain. Our founder’s journey began with the design of the sustainability management plan for Colombia’s Coffee Cultural Landscape—later recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This formative work laid the foundation for his doctoral research at the University of Lausanne, where he explored sustainability across coffee-producing regions.