Cocoa Livelihoods Program Summary

In early 2009, the World Cocoa Foundation announced a new, $40 million program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 14 chocolate industry companies to significantly improve the livelihoods of approximately 200,000 cocoa farmers in Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria.  The innovative, five-year Cocoa Livelihoods Program focuses on enhancing farmer knowledge and competitiveness, improving productivity and quality, promoting crop diversification and improving supply chain efficiency.  These initiatives will help increase farmer incomes and significantly improve cocoa community wellbeing.

The program will train farmers in better production techniques, quality improvement and business skills; professionalize farmer organizations to better meet member needs; and improve farmer access to agricultural inputs and improved-quality seedlings.  The program also will improve farmer access to market information and opportunities for diversification into alternative food and cash crops to maximize income and security.

The Cocoa Livelihoods Program is managed by the World Cocoa Foundation and is implemented through a consortium of five organizations, including Agribusiness Services International (ASI) an ACDI/VOCA affiliate, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)/ Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP), SOCODEVI and TechnoServe.  In addition to the $23 million in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, over $17 million in financial support and in-kind contributions come from the private sector: major branded manufacturers The Hershey Company, Kraft Foods and Mars, Incorporated; cocoa processors Archer Daniels Midland Company, Barry Callebaut, Blommer Chocolate Company and Cargill; and supply chain managers and allied industries Armajaro, Ecom-Agrocacao, Guittard Chocolate Company, Noble Resources S.A., Olam International Ltd., Starbucks Coffee Company and Transmar Commodity Group Ltd.; and contributors to Technical Partners: the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).  The governments of the participating West and Central African countries are full partners in the program’s implementation.

Update:

Implementation planning and site selection for the Cocoa Livelihoods Program is completed.  A number of the on-the-ground program activities started in late 2009, such as the Farmer Field School, and more will initiate in early 2010, including the professionalization of Farmer Organizations.