Inclusive Cocoa
Working toward a more inclusive cocoa ecosystem.1
Supporting opportunities for cocoa communities.
Our vision for a more inclusive cocoa supply chain is one that helps address the complex and ongoing challenges facing cocoa and one where everyone has access to better opportunities. We’re helping by:
- Fostering partnerships that help create economic opportunities for cocoa-growing communities
- Collaborating with governments and nonprofits help to empower women both socially and economically
- Working with the industry to help promote access to safe, quality education for those in cocoa-growing communities through coalitions like the Jacobs Foundation’s Child Learning and Education Facility or with nonprofits like Lead for Ghana
Striving toward inclusive cocoa
While there’s more work to be done to make cocoa more inclusive, here’s a glimpse into the work we’re doing with the help of our partners.
Helping empower women
To date, we’ve supported at least 100,000 Women for Change Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) members to help break down financial barriers.
Supporting a path to increasing income
Through test-and-learn approaches aimed at improving income, we’re helping 15,000 cocoa farmers.
Funding "Lead for Ghana" fellows
We've funded the deployment of 34 "Lead for Ghana" fellows to schools in 10 cocoa growing communities, impacting at least 2700 students.
Program spotlight
We're collaborating with cocoa partners on programs and initiatives to help impact cocoa-growing communities.
Read more about some of those programs below.
A Woman for Change participant sits with cocoa pods.
Women for Change
In 2016, Mars first partnered with CARE International to fund and launch Women for Change (W4C) in Côte d’Ivoire with the goal of improving women’s economic opportunity, supporting professional and financial growth, and boosting nutrition in cocoa-growing communities. W4C has since expanded to Ghana, now reaching at least 100,000 Women for Change VSLA members. VSLAs have generated more than $20.8 million in savings and credit and $13.5 million in loans.
A cocoa farmer participating with Cocoa Yiedie holds cocoa beans.
Cocoa Yiedie
Created by the Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming (L3F) in 2022, Cocoa Yiedie brings together partners to develop strategies aimed at helping with farm professionalization through access to financing, coaching, and farm services. Cocoa Yiedie is designed to test approaches to identify the most impactful models.
Irda H., a cocoa farmer in South Sulawesi, Indonesia and participant in GrowHer: Kakao
GrowHer:Kakao
GrowHer:Kakao is an award-winning project that aims to lift up women as leaders in agriculture, ensuring their voices are represented and heard in business decisions. Based in Indonesia, GrowHer:Kakao has established 44 Village Savings and Loans Associations and impacting around 4,000 women in cocoa farming.
Stories from cocoa-growing communities
A participant in the Mars-CARE Women for Change program.
Empowering women at home
“Empowering women can promote food security, cultural shift and transformation in their communities. Through gender committees, the Women for Change program aims to help give women a voice at home. ”
—Berlinda Addison Ansah, Cocoa Sustainability Officer, Ghana, Mars
Suzanne is a VSLA member participating in the LEAP program with Fairtrade.
VSLAs helping finance education
"The money from VSLAs helps us enormously. My husband had a stroke and I’m the one that takes care of everything for the family. The CAKIB cooperative really saved me. This year the premium I received was used to finance my children’s schooling so they can learn.”
—Suzane, a cocoa farmer from Côte d’Ivoire
Marata started her own peanut butter business.
Diversifying income
"I’m helping to create jobs for other women, and I’ve been able to double my profits. I have two children who are still in school, and the profits allow me to meet their expenses. The remaining profits are used to buy plant protection products to ensure the food security of my family.”
—Marata O, CARE-Mars Women for Change VSLA program participant
Footnotes
1.At Mars, we recognize that the global cocoa supply chain faces many complex and interconnected risks and challenges, especially in regions of West Africa. Although Mars does not own or operate any cocoa farms in West Africa, it does purchase cocoa sourced from all over the world, including West Africa. Mars is making investments in various programs with the goal of helping to combat the risks of human rights abuses, climate change and threats to forests, among other things. Ultimately, no one actor can combat these risks alone—lasting progress will depend on collective action from governments, corporations, NGOs, and all stakeholders in the cocoa industry.