Ep002 Spaceship Podcast - Matt - Preview

[00:00:00] Matt: We don't live in a world right now where governments habitually make sensible, ambitious decisions about the public goods we need to create and then efficiently go about creating them. So, if we could pass those mandates to private companies who can do good while also doing well, if you can create a business model where doing the right thing is profitable, then you've won.

Clement: What does chocolate have to do with peacebuilding? Apparently, a lot. On today's show, we take a trip to Colombia in South America, where cacao is growing in the same places where they grow cocaine. In 2018, the demand for cocaine was higher than any other time in history- and the violence associated with this drug is hard to ignore. Colombian small farmers face the dilemma, either growing illicit crops to survive because they are more lucrative, or farming legal crops in poverty.

So many of these farmers [00:01:00] live below the poverty line.

That's where chocolate comes in. Today, we speak to Matt Whiteman, the co-founder of Choco4Peace, a social enterprise tackling this huge, systemic problem - one piece of chocolate at a time.

Laura: Matt has a long history in the international development space, from working to help finance sustainable agriculture to ethical approaches to international volunteer engagements. But over the last few years, Matt and his co-founder Sergio have been running Choco4Peace, connecting cocoa farmers in Colombia with global markets.

They're also leveraging blockchain technology so that all interactions are recorded in real time.

So, basically, a chocolate fan like me can trace the origins of the cacao in their chocolate bar back to the farms where it was produced. But it's not just about technology or delicious chocolate.  (Yes, I'm already hungry.)

At its [00:02:00] core, Matt's mission is about looking at the crisis of peace in Colombia in a whole new way. So here's Matt.

So Matt, I'd love to start off by you just introducing to us what it is that you do in your own words. Um, and I consider you an impact entrepreneur, but. You know, how, how would you describe what it is that you do?

Matt: Great. Thank you, Laura. And thank you, Clement. So, I'm with a startup called Choco4Peace.

That's chocolate for peace. And the place I normally start these conversations is around the idea of dignity and it's something that I'd wager that most people listening to my voice kind of take for granted on a daily basis. The most undignified thing I can think of that I've ever done was like, forget my towel when I'm taking a shower and have to sort of scoot across my living room, but -

Laura: How undignified.

Matt: Nobody wants [00:03:00] to see that. So. But, our organization works with ex-cocaine producers and war victims in Colombia who have made the transition from cacao, which is the base ingredient in chocolate. And we support them with access to international markets and fair prices, technology and finance. So that's, that's what we do, but you know, it involves confronting that idea of, of dignity and the lack of dignity face to face because, you know, often the people we're working with, they are forced to engage in illegal activity - such as the production of cocaine - often for the same people that have murdered their families. And this is a decision that they have to make in order to survive. So we're engaged in that space and trying to lift farmers out of poverty, build peace in rural communities in Colombia. And, as I said, built lives with dignity.

Laura: Can you expand a bit further around this problem in Colombia? Um, can you tell us a bit more about... what do you [00:04:00] feel is like the central driver to this...