People are the key to any thriving organisation.

To highlight the people who make up Earthworm, Julien Troussier — our HR Director — talks to our staff to give listeners a peak into who they are and what they do. Through this podcast series, we want to show how their unique personalities are linked to our work.

In episode 4, Julien speaks with Gerome Tokpa, Country Head in Ivory Coast, about his work in forestry and the cocoa industry.

Topka began his university studies in geo-chemistry. But his stay in an eco-house in Germany and the people he met there made him change his major to geo-ecology. He is driven by the desire to improve things in Ivory Coast and change the mindset about agriculture.

Where many Africans think “I failed at school, I will go work in the plantation,” Gerome thought, “I succeeded in school. How can I bring back what I have learnt to improve things back home?”

Today, he is involved in empowering companies and communities to tackle environmental and social issues.

“When you see the living conditions of the people [in Ivory Coast] … they have no insurance. They live on less than one dollar a day. It’s not possible to be the top cocoa producer in the world and at the same time see the producers in such conditions. So I thought, what can I do for them?” he said.