A collaborative framework for Ondo State's cocoa sector

A Multi-Stakeholder Platform (MSP) is a collaborative framework that brings together diverse groups of stakeholders to address common challenges, share knowledge, and co-create solutions. The Ondo State Sustainable Cocoa Multi-Stakeholder Platform — OSCP for short — applies this model to the cocoa sector.

Cocoa production in Ondo State involves many actors working largely on their own: government agencies, farmers, cooperatives, processors, exporters, researchers, financiers and civil society groups each hold a piece of the solution to productivity, quality and sustainability challenges, but no single institution can address them alone. OSCP exists to close that gap — bringing every actor to one table so efforts are coordinated rather than duplicated or siloed.

The goal of the platform is to leverage the strengths and expertise of every stakeholder to drive progress in areas such as value chain development, policy advocacy, climate-smart agriculture, digital inclusion, research and innovation, farmer livelihoods, and sustainable cocoa production. OSCP serves as a coordination platform that promotes dialogue, joint decision-making, knowledge sharing and partnerships aimed at improving cocoa standards, productivity, market access and sustainability.

In practice, collaboration happens through regular stakeholder dialogues, working groups organised around the platform's priority areas, joint training and field activities, and shared reporting — so that decisions affecting the sector are informed by the people closest to the work, from farm to market.