Antonie Fountain, Managing Director of VOICE Network, Announced as Final Keynote Speaker for Better Cotton Conference 2023

Better Cotton today announces that Antonie Fountain, Co-Founder and Managing Director of the VOICE Network, will give a keynote speech introducing the theme of Livelihoods at the Better Cotton Conference 2023, taking place on 21 and 22 June in Amsterdam and online.

Antonie heads up the VOICE Network, a global association of civil society organisations working in sustainable cocoa. Tackling issues such as poverty, deforestation and child labour, the VOICE Network’s vision is a sustainable cocoa sector in which all stakeholders are able to earn a living income, under decent working conditions, where human rights are respected, and within a thriving and healthy environment.

A key spokesperson for civil society in cocoa, Antonie has been actively advocating a sustainable cocoa sector for almost two decades. He is the author of numerous publications on cocoa sustainability, and the chief editor of the Cocoa Barometer, a biennial overview of the sustainability challenges and opportunities in the cocoa sector.

Antonie is also the civil society advisor to the European Commission’s ‘Sustainable Cocoa Initiative’, the civil society representative to the United Nations’ International Cocoa Organisation Consultative Board, and sits on the Advisory Board of the Living Income Community of Practice.

Focusing on the incomes and well-being of smallholder farmers, Antonie will draw on his experiences in the cocoa sector to provide conference attendees with learnings that can be applied to a range of sectors, including cotton. He will explore key livelihoods challenges and discuss tried and tested approaches to finding solutions.

Livelihoods is one of four key themes at the Better Cotton Conference 2023, along with Climate Action, Regenerative Agriculture, and Data and Traceability. These four themes reflect key priorities from Better Cotton’s 2030 Strategy, and each will be introduced by a keynote speech from an internationally recognised sector thought leader.

We have previously announced the three other keynote speakers for the Better Cotton Conference 2023. Nisha Onta, Regional Coordinator for Asia at WOCAN, will open the conference with a speech introducing the theme of Climate Action, Maxine Bédat, Director of New Standard Institute, will introduce Data and Traceability, and Felipe Villela, Co-Founder of reNature, will give a keynote on the theme of Regenerative Agriculture.

Thank you to all our Better Cotton Conference sponsors! If you are interested in exploring our sponsorship packages, please contact [email protected]

To find out more about the Better Cotton Conference 2023 and sign up for tickets, head to this link. For more information, please contact [email protected]

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