Multi-Annual Multi-Sector Agenda Implementation Report 2020 First Semester

Cadmium is a heavy metal that can cause damage to kidneys, lungs, and bones when ingested in small amounts. The Peruvian Government, in collaboration with the Cacao Seguro Project, has implemented a multi-sector agenda to mitigate the negative impacts of cadmium contamination on the cocoa value chain. The agenda comprises nine strategies, 531 activities, and 232 tasks, with a focus on 462 activities planned for the first half of 2020. The report highlights that only three activities (6%) have been implemented, 10 activities (22%) are underway, and 33 activities (72%) are pending. The main challenges and obstacles for implementing the agenda include insufficient funding, external current issues, the need to enforce biosafety protocols, internal communication breakdowns, and prioritizing other activities to ensure food supplies during the COVID-19 lockdown. The report emphasizes the importance of implementing the agenda to support mitigation of cadmium and other heavy metals in cocoa and its intermediate and final products. The agenda aims to foster domestic market consumption of cocoa by-products and open new international markets to diversify product offerings. The report also highlights the need to encourage and strengthen a system to identify, analyze, and monitor cadmium and other heavy metals in the cocoa value chain. The Cacao Seguro Project has worked together with MINAGRI to design the Multi-Annual and Multi-Sector Agenda. The project has supported the preparation of the agenda, which consists of nine strategies, with specified activities and their respective critical tasks. The agenda aims to support mitigation of cadmium and other heavy metals in cocoa and its intermediate and final products through a range of potential solutions. Peru was the world's ninth-largest cocoa beans producer and the second-largest producer of organic cocoa until 2019. The country's cocoa production is mainly sold to Europe and the United States, with the Netherlands and Belgium being the main importers of Peruvian cocoa beans. The new standards for cadmium content in cocoa beans should not negatively impact either cocoa exports to European markets or the incomes of cocoa growers. The report highlights the need for government agencies to adapt their daily chores to home-office work and direct their efforts and resources to meet the needs of quarantine and health emergencies. The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously impacted the efforts to implement the agenda, which had to be postponed. The report emphasizes the importance of gathering information on the progress in deploying the Multi-Sector Multi-Annual Agenda to recommend pertinent measures to prevent the agenda from being left unfinished. The report concludes that 55% of the activities were not implemented due to insufficient funding, 21% because of external current issues and the need to enforce biosafety protocols, 21% because of internal communication breakdowns, and 3% because the institution in charge had to prioritize other activities to ensure food supplies during the COVID-19 lockdown. The report provides recommendations for the involved institutions to continue implementing the agenda in the near future.