Cocoa Livelihoods Program News Today

Extreme Poverty, a Threat to Cocoa Sustainability A typical cocoa farmer in West Africa works on a plot of no more than 3.5 hectares and uses income gained from cocoa to support between six and eight family members. It is estimated that more than two-thirds of cocoa farmers live below the poverty line in some African cocoa growing countries. Outdated agricultural practices that lead to low productivity, monoculture, fluctuation of prices on the global market and lack of access to infrastructure...

1.6 million children engage in child labor on cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the two main cocoa-producing countries. Smallholder farmers often struggle there with poverty and poor infrastructure. They have few labor alternatives other than their children. Limited access to schools, cultural practices, lack of awareness and gender inequalities also drive child labor. This is not right. WCF helps achieve Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 and 5 by convening cocoa and chocolate comp...