How Are Cocoa Farming Communities Supported and Why Should We Help?
Cocoa is a ‘cash crop’ as it provides income to more than 4.5
million families across West Africa, South America and Southeast Asia with cocoa crops being responsible for more than 50% of household income in Cote d’Ivoire. The average size of a cocoa farm is 3-4 hectares (7-10 acres) and they are operated by a family who either lives on the farm or somewhere nearby. Diseases, out-dated farming techniques, limited organisational support, child labour, education and health are all challenges that farmers, their families, and the cocoa-farming communities have to face.
Cocoa farming remains a small, family enterprise just as it was 100 years ago. The vast majority of cocoa farms are not owned by the brand name companies that make chocolate products or the cocoa suppliers.
It is thanks to governments, civil society organisations, and the global chocolate industry, that farmer incomes are increasing, educational
opportunities are improving, and fewer children are being exposed to unsafe
farming tasks.
In order for any type of industry to succeed, it is vital that everyone participating in its chain contributes effectively. By this, cocoa farming must deliver sustainable benefits to the cocoa-growing families as well as the communities they live in. Leading participants in the world’s chocolate and cocoa industries have been supporting this global effort to create better livelihoods for the millions of cocoa-farming families, adults and children worldwide through programmes, partnerships and foundations.
The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) was formed in 2000 by a group of
‘visionary chocolate companies’. The organisation was formed to support the long term sustainability of cocoa farming. The chocolate and cocoa industry had become concerned in the late 1990s about the issues facing cocoa farmers, as Brazil, once a leading cocoa exporter, had had much of its crop wiped out by disease. The impractical farming techniques, poor environmental management, and the economic health of the cocoa farmers were all factors needing to be addressed as the cocoa crop began to deteriorate. The WCF led to the creation of another foundation in 2002 known as the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) which focuses on cocoa farming labour practices, and a‘certification’ process. The ICI also addresses the worst forms of child labour and adult forced labour.
With the help of the ICI...
- 87.5% of communities reached children are no longer involved in spraying pesticides
- 79% of communities have ensured the loads that children carry are reduced
- Children have started to be provided with protective clothing whilst they are on the farms across all communities
- 83% of communities have stopped giving children the task of breaking the cocoa pods
- 87.5% of communities have officially requested teachers
- 54% of communities have employed teachers and are paying them directly
It is now important to understand, why as a consumer, you should only be purchasing Fairtrade certified chocolate. If a chocolate product is
Fairtrade ‘certified’ you can be assured that an effort is being made across various cocoa organisations to improve labour practices, offer detailed assessment of labour conditions, inform, guide and measure the success of efforts to help the children and adults in cocoa farming communities, and involve the West African governments (who have control over the territory where the farms are located) to continue driving these changes at the farm level.
Please watch the video below to gain an even better understanding as to why we need to only buy chocolate from brands that have been Fairtrade Certified.
million families across West Africa, South America and Southeast Asia with cocoa crops being responsible for more than 50% of household income in Cote d’Ivoire. The average size of a cocoa farm is 3-4 hectares (7-10 acres) and they are operated by a family who either lives on the farm or somewhere nearby. Diseases, out-dated farming techniques, limited organisational support, child labour, education and health are all challenges that farmers, their families, and the cocoa-farming communities have to face.
Cocoa farming remains a small, family enterprise just as it was 100 years ago. The vast majority of cocoa farms are not owned by the brand name companies that make chocolate products or the cocoa suppliers.
It is thanks to governments, civil society organisations, and the global chocolate industry, that farmer incomes are increasing, educational
opportunities are improving, and fewer children are being exposed to unsafe
farming tasks.
In order for any type of industry to succeed, it is vital that everyone participating in its chain contributes effectively. By this, cocoa farming must deliver sustainable benefits to the cocoa-growing families as well as the communities they live in. Leading participants in the world’s chocolate and cocoa industries have been supporting this global effort to create better livelihoods for the millions of cocoa-farming families, adults and children worldwide through programmes, partnerships and foundations.
The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) was formed in 2000 by a group of
‘visionary chocolate companies’. The organisation was formed to support the long term sustainability of cocoa farming. The chocolate and cocoa industry had become concerned in the late 1990s about the issues facing cocoa farmers, as Brazil, once a leading cocoa exporter, had had much of its crop wiped out by disease. The impractical farming techniques, poor environmental management, and the economic health of the cocoa farmers were all factors needing to be addressed as the cocoa crop began to deteriorate. The WCF led to the creation of another foundation in 2002 known as the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) which focuses on cocoa farming labour practices, and a‘certification’ process. The ICI also addresses the worst forms of child labour and adult forced labour.
With the help of the ICI...
- 87.5% of communities reached children are no longer involved in spraying pesticides
- 79% of communities have ensured the loads that children carry are reduced
- Children have started to be provided with protective clothing whilst they are on the farms across all communities
- 83% of communities have stopped giving children the task of breaking the cocoa pods
- 87.5% of communities have officially requested teachers
- 54% of communities have employed teachers and are paying them directly
It is now important to understand, why as a consumer, you should only be purchasing Fairtrade certified chocolate. If a chocolate product is
Fairtrade ‘certified’ you can be assured that an effort is being made across various cocoa organisations to improve labour practices, offer detailed assessment of labour conditions, inform, guide and measure the success of efforts to help the children and adults in cocoa farming communities, and involve the West African governments (who have control over the territory where the farms are located) to continue driving these changes at the farm level.
Please watch the video below to gain an even better understanding as to why we need to only buy chocolate from brands that have been Fairtrade Certified.
So next time you're sitting at home enjoying a sweet piece of tantalising chocolate, have a think about if you really know where it has come from, and if the methods involved in producing it were ethical and environmentally friendly.
Make the right choice, support small cocoa-farming families and their communities and only choose to buy Fairtrade certified chocolate.
Make the right choice, support small cocoa-farming families and their communities and only choose to buy Fairtrade certified chocolate.