PROGRESS BLOG
CHECK OUT COCOA LIFE'S FIRST PROGRESS REPORT TODAY
By Christine Montenegro McGrath, Vice President of Global Sustainability, Well-being, Public and Government Affairs, Mondelēz International - 02/22/16
We launched Cocoa Life in 2012 with an important mission: to create empowered cocoa farmers, in thriving communities, at scale. Today we are publishing our first Progress Report, with data gathered by independent research organizations, to quantify the impact of Cocoa Life. As leaders of sustainable growth in the cocoa industry, our aim is to share our best practices, lessons learned, and challenges to advance the industry's sustainability practice and drive transformation of the cocoa supply chain.
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The results and stories highlighted in this Progress Report are encouraging. Over the past three years, our team has worked with local leaders, NGOs, and government agencies to understand and address the needs of cocoa-growing communities in six countries.
Here is a look at some of the important numbers behind Cocoa Life:
- Our goal is to empower 200,000 farmers by 2022 (and create lasting change for future generations)
- By the end of 2015, Cocoa Life reached 76,700 farmers in more than 795 communities.
- Today 21% of Mondelēz's cocoa is now sustainably sourced (a number that will continue to grow with the program).
Cocoa Life has created opportunities that benefit entire cocoa communities - ranging from greater crop yields and higher farmer incomes to improved benefits for women and increased environmental conservation. These and other outcomes are brought vividly to life in the report, through the voices of our partners living Cocoa Life every day, including farmers, NGOs, suppliers, and origin leaders.
Their stories and personal reflections clearly illustrate that Cocoa Life is a robust program living up to its three core principles of being: holistic and farmer-centric, committed to strong partnerships, and aligned to our cocoa sourcing. As part of Mondelēz International's Call For Well-Being, a company-wide call to action to create a positive impact on the world and drive growth for our business, Cocoa Life is making meaningful strides in transforming our cocoa supply chain and improving the lives of cocoa farmers and their families.
As excited as we are about our progress, we also know there is still much work ahead to bring Cocoa Life to scale across our supply chain. We're in the early days of our journey. Now that the framework is in place and interventions in the origins have begun, we are excited to see how the program evolves as we enter our fourth year. We hope there's a "multiplier effect" as farmers are inspired by their success and we see communities working together. This report marks the first of many milestones in the years to come. We will continue to listen to the needs of the communities, and to work closely with our partners to drive lasting change.
I'm proud to say we're staying true to Cocoa Life's credo: Together, we are growing.
