Africa Sustainable Commodities Initiative wins Schwab Foundation award at Davos!

Happy New Year to all of our readers! We are very proud to go into our 25th anniversary year with the news that the Africa Sustainable Commodities Initiative (ASCI) has been recognised as a Collective Social Innovator by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship 2025. Proforest's Abraham Baffoe collected the award at the World Economic Forum in Davos on behalf of the ten ASCI country platforms in West and Central Africa. The multi-stakeholder platform, inclusive of government, civil society and private sector, has worked to shape policy, develop process and build capacity towards?responsible production that protects natural resources and advances human rights and livelihoods.

More below on how we will be marking 25 years of Proforest and what we have achieved with our partners, clients and collaborators.

ASCI wins the Schwab Foundation Award for Collective Social Innovators of the Year 2025

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Proforest's Abraham Baffoe represented the Africa Sustainable Commodities Initiative, winner of the?Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Awards 2025.The Schwab Foundation awards recognise outstanding social entrepreneurs and innovators who are driving systemic change around the world. The 2025 awards celebrate 18 social entrepreneurs and innovators from 15 organisations in 13 countries, who are engaged in action as diverse as protecting nature, supporting livelihoods of economically marginalised communities, and transforming healthcare and education. ASCI is joining a global community of nearly 500 social entrepreneurs and innovators, who collectively impact 931 million lives.

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Proforest: 25 years of positive outcomes for people, nature and climate?

Since 2000, Proforest has been at the forefront of supporting companies, governments, and local communities with responsible production and sourcing of agricultural and forestry commodities.?

As a mission-driven organisation, we strive to create long-lasting change both within and beyond supply chains. Throughout 2025, a new series of Impact Stories will hear from the people we work with about the impact our work is having. You can see the first two stories here:

• Jia Yen Lai representing MY Voice, an initiative by Social Accountability International (SAI)
• Fernando Sampaio and Sheila Guebara from GTPS (Grupo de Trabalho da Pecuária Sustentável)

Discover more about our journey, including a series of Insights, reflecting on what we have learned to take us into the next 25 years:?www.proforest.net/25th-anniversary

Join us at future events:

• Bursa Malaysia Palm Oil Conference, Feb 24-26, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
• World Cocoa Foundation annual meeting, March 19-20, S?o Paulo?Brazil:?Proforest's Jane Lino will be on a panel.
• Responsible Sourcing & Ethical Trade Forum, March 19-20, London UK.
• Nature Action Dialogues, March 25-26, Cambridge UK: Proforest speaking in the session 'Demystifying the Implementation of Effective Collective Action'.
• Skoll World Forum, April 1-4, Oxford UK.

For more on Proforest's work across responsible sourcing &?production of?multiple?commodities, landscape programmes, company collaborations and multi-stakeholder initiatives see our website at?www.proforest.netDo contact us if you would like further information about any of our work.