Pursuing gender equality within Cocoa for Generations

Acting for gender transformative change in the cocoa supply chain 

Mars Snacking – Cocoa Position Paper

Why advance gender equality in the cocoa supply chain? 

We believe investments and efforts focusing on gender equality make business sense and are essential to: 

• Protect fundamental and universal human rights. 
• Enable communities to thrive. 
• Make supply chains more inclusive, diverse and innovative.

When women can reach their full potential, they’re more likely to invest in food security, education, climate adaptation and better health outcomes for themselves, their families and communities. Investing in gender equality and in women can help to address the root causes of socio-economic challenges faced by farming families and to eventually break the cycle of poverty. This also can enable businesses to thrive, as they would have access to more resilient and secure supply chains and can attract the next generation of talented and purpose-driven associates into the business.

"When rural women are empowered to take decisions on behalf of their families, the intergenerational reproduction of gender inequality patterns can be broken: Their daughters and sons are less likely to drop out from school and become involved in child labour."

FAO.org, "Gender dimensions of child labour in agriculture"(Opens a new window)

Why now?

A modern, inclusive and sustainable cocoa supply chain is one where everyone can thrive. 

Today, that’s not the reality, especially for women and (adolescent) girls who are often excluded from key financial, social and leadership roles, services and benefits. This is true at all levels of the cocoa supply chain, from communities to farming households to public institutions and within company (field) teams.  

Cocoa farming is traditionally seen as a “man’s job,” even though women are equally involved in many tasks on the cocoa farm. Often, female farmers are not acknowledged (or registered) as farmers and/or members of farmers’ groups. They face significant barriers in accessing formal cocoa networks, capital and capability building services. Adolescent girls in cocoa growing families face unique challenges, including unequal access to education, the risk of child marriage, and a lack of female role models. Jobs and leadership positions in “cocoa’s first mile” (referring to the first steps in the supply chain, at the level of the farms, communities, service provision, and trading) are typically filled by men. The lack of diversity at the first mile and at decision making levels, as well as the burden of unpaid care work tends to further disadvantage women. The devastating impacts of COVID-19 and climate change continue to disproportionately affect women. 

The moment for advancing gender equality and girls’ and women’s empowerment in the cocoa supply chain is now.  

As a global sustainability leader, Mars has the ambition to lead by example. We see gender equality and women’s social and economic empowerment as essential to our Cocoa for Generations Strategy and a foundation for achieving our vision to increase incomes, protect human rights and preserve forests.

What do we mean by gender equality?
The concept that both men and women are free to develop their abilities and make choices without the limitations set by stereotypes, rigid gender roles, or prejudices. Gender equality means that the different behaviors, aspirations and needs of women and men are considered, valued and favored equally. It does not mean that women and men have to become the same, but that their rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female.

KIT.nl, "Empowerment of Women and Girls: a Conceptual Model"(Opens a new window)

Promoting equal voice, opportunity and decision making in the cocoa supply chain – at all levels – will help achieve long term and sustained benefits for all and increase the prospects for a thriving and prospering cocoa sector.  

We learned that the longer-term, often neglected work of changing mindsets and inequitable social norms are essential if we want to make meaningful progress in breaking through barriers to equality, reducing poverty and unlocking women’s and girls’ full potential.   

“Social norms cover several aspects of an individual’s identity—age, gender, ability, ethnicity, religion and so on—that are heterogenous and multidimensional. Discriminatory social norms and stereotypes reinforce gendered identities and determine power relations that constrain women’s and men’s behaviour in ways that lead to inequality. Norms influence expectations for masculine and feminine behaviours considered socially acceptable or looked down on. So they directly affect individuals’ choices, freedoms and capabilities.”

UNDP.org, “Tackling social norms: a game changer for gender inequalities”(Opens a new window)

We see it as our responsibility to strive to make inclusivity a part of our Cocoa for Generations strategy and to avoid bias and discrimination in our operations, programs and policies that would reinforce existing gender inequalities.

See more details on what we learned through our Resilience Journey with the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) here(Opens a new window).

What needs to change? 

Our vision is one where:

• Cocoa’s first mile is truly inclusive and catalytic - where everyone who cultivates cocoa is acknowledged by service providers, suppliers and communities as a farmer, irrespective of sex or landholding status.  
• The provision of services is non-discriminatory and intentionally accessible to all.  
• Women and girls in cocoa farming communities are able to reach their full potential – supported by men and boys as change agents and champions of gender equality.   

Based on the insights from our research, we believe that to build a modern, inclusive and sustainable cocoa supply chain, the following focus areas need to be an integral part of our strategy: 

A gender transformative approach

A transformative approach that addresses the root causes of inequalities, including gender norms and power relations is needed for lasting change. A gender transformative approach involves change at three levels: within our Cocoa for Generations (C4G) program and operations, throughout our first mile sourcing operations and in cocoa farming households and communities. 

• Adopting a gender-focused approach at the C4G level requires Mars teams to cultivate a 'critical consciousness' of gender inequalities, enhance gender expertise, and incorporate a gender perspective into the C4G strategy, with targeted interventions for maximum impact. 
• To drive change at the first mile sourcing operations, we will partner with suppliers to foster a gender-equal first mile workforce and guarantee non-discriminatory access to services for cocoa farming households. 
• At the community and household level, we will implement targeted initiatives to empower female youth, and engage both men and boys as gender allies for a more equitable future. 

“For GTAs [Gender Transformative Approaches], change is clearly about addressing ‘the underlying causes of gender inequality rather than just closing the various gender gaps between men and women.’ The implication is that rather than focusing exclusively on the self-improvement of individual women, GTAs also work towards ‘transforming power dynamics and structures that act to reinforce gendered inequalities.'”

CGIAR.org, “Implementing Gender Transformative Approaches in Agriculture”(Opens a new window)

Empower adolescent girls and young women

Female youth are a critical group in the pursuit of gender equality as they face determining crossroads and decisions during adolescence and early adulthood (girls typically more so than boys). In order to create an equitable future for the next generations in cocoa-growing communities, it will be key to address their unique needs and offer access to leadership and life skills trainings, among others. This includes the recognition of the contribution of women in cocoa production and avoid discrimination in the provision of services. In addition this is about promoting their access to “non traditional “ jobs and leadership roles.

Engage and support men and boys as change agents

Cocoa’s first mile is predominately male and so are traditional (religious) community leaders. Although this context could be seen as constraining women’s empowerment, there is also an opportunity to use these channels for change and approach cocoa farmers and value chain actors in their roles as (grand)fathers, husbands and brothers. Engaging men as allies for gender equality might be challenging, as they are part of the establishment, and it will require sensitization on gender inequalities starting at a young age. It will also require patience, as transformation will not happen overnight and should be progressive so as not to create a sense of disempowerment amongst the men and boys. 

Gender equality today and tomorrow 

Since 2016, in partnership with CARE, Mars has been investing in community-based savings and loans programs to empower women through finance, skills and networks.  

In 2020, we committed an additional $10 million to further expand our Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) model with CARE to reach more than 60,000 members by 2025. We have already surpassed our target and these VSLAs across Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire now1 have over 80,000 members (and more than 75% are women) in more than 350 cocoa-growing communities.  

Our $10M commitment to women’s social and economic empowerment has unlocked more than $7.4M in savings by more than 77,000 Village Savings and Loans Association members in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana (through September 2022).

The VSLA model(Opens a new window) we developed in partnership with CARE includes a number of essential building blocks that go beyond the standard foundational savings and loans activity, such as access to finance, entrepreneurship and diversification of income, gender equality interventions including literacy training as well as a Healthy Families curriculum that promotes early-childhood development and child protection by engaging parents and households.  

Based on CARE’s implementation of this bundled model, we have strong indications that it contributes to improving income for cocoa growing households and to increasing women’s confidence, strengthening local governance, protecting children and human and social capital, and improving decision making relationships in cocoa growing households. 

“When women are equipped with the resources to participate as equal actors in supply chains, economic productivity and supply chain resilience increase, and critical procurement risks are mitigated. Moreover, this helps women, their families, and their communities to be healthier, better educated, and more financially secure, and to make decisions and influence change that has a sustained impact on their families and communities.” 

CARE Impact Partners

In addition to our flagship program, Women for Change, developed in conjunction with CARE, we have been working on other initiatives that aim to empower women in the cocoa supply chain. At the Mars La Chola research farm in Ecuador, we've partnered with the local NGO Acción Solidaria to drive inclusivity and diversity through our Women Grow Together initiative. 

Based on the insights of our work and research to date, we want to expand our ambition in the pursuit of gender equality. Women’s empowerment is a necessary and critical step towards that ambition, and we want to expand our corporate gender ambitions (Full Potential(Opens a new window)) to cocoa supply chain communities.  

Our sharpened focus

To turn our vision of a modern, inclusive and sustainable cocoa supply chain into reality we aim to work with suppliers and implementing partners to:  

Build capability and knowledge  

• Build and strengthen Mars’ internal awareness of gender inequalities in the cocoa supply chain and strengthen our teams’ knowledge and skills to promote gender equality at all levels.  

Lead by example 

• Embed a gender transformative lens into our cocoa policies, strategies, partnerships and programs linked to human rights, environment and farmer income; 
• Mainstream gender across all elements of the C4G strategy, reinforced with targeted interventions to transform cocoa’s first mile, with an aim of nurturing female youth and engaging men and boys; 
• Refine our gender goals, targets and metrics to meaningfully measure and track progress;  
• We will be deliberate about empowering the next generation of adolescent girls and young women and explore opportunities for new programs that benefit them with our NGO partners.  

Influence

• Work with our suppliers to achieve a diverse and inclusive first mile. Develop clear guidance and expectations to break through biases and stereotypes, with a focus on women in the workforce, access to on- and off-farm services for female farmers (defined as all women who are involved one way or the other in cocoa cultivation), commitment to representation and voice for women in leadership forums, and provision of services that are inclusive and non-discriminatory.  

Advocate and inspire

• Leverage our advocacy channels to collaborate with business, civil society and government partners to advance our vision.  
• By being transparent, incorporating sustainability messaging into marketing campaigns, engaging consumers through social media, collaborating with stakeholders, and offering sustainable product choices, we will bring consumers along on our journey to gender equality. 

Looking ahead 

Engage, inspire, collaborate 

To foster gender equality, it's essential to involve our brands, consumers, peers, suppliers, and partners in transforming attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Sustained engagement from all stakeholders in the cocoa supply chain is necessary.  

Our responsibility lies in leading the way, promoting change within our company and supply chain, starting conversations and taking a stand against inequality. By setting an example and promoting equal opportunities, we aim to inspire lasting positive change. 

With our insights, our vision and our sharpened commitment to gender equality we aim to inspire companies, governments and civil society groups to help transform some of the deeply rooted mindsets, norms and behaviours that prevent women from reaching their full potential so that communities thrive. 

Download our Mars Cocoa Gender Position Paper(Opens a new window).