Cocoa Life Progress Report 2016

To this day, even though Cocoa Life first launched in 2012, we still use the original framework we developed for the program. Our ambition, guiding principles and five focus areas have not changed. Each year, Cocoa Life and its partners scale up the program by helping new farmers and communities, as well as evolving the program against the five focus areas.

"This report not only represents the scale we achieved, but also how proud I am of the ongoing impact we are having. We’re enabling farmers to increase productivity, which helps them earn higher incomes in the long term and better support themselves and their families. Cocoa-growing communities also become more resilient as our interventions support them in leading their own development. By taking this farmer- and community-centric approach and collaborating with our partners, we’re creating lasting, transformative change in the cocoa supply chain."

Cathy Pieters,
Program Director, Cocoa Life

By the end of 2016, we reached 92,000 cocoa farmers in over 861 communities and 21 percent of the company’s cocoa was sustainably sourced. Our goal is to reach 200,000 cocoa farmers and 1 million community members by 2022, and ultimately source all of our cocoa sustainably, mainly through Cocoa Life.

We also made progress against key output indicators, which demonstrate how our interventions are making a difference. Our Cocoa Life team routinely collects monitoring data from our partners and assesses program performance at the local level, so that we can apply learnings to improve program outcomes in the future. In 2016, across Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Indonesia, Cocoa Life:

• Trained 74,400+ farmers on Good Agricultural Practices to increase the yield on their farms
• Distributed 2.7+ million cocoa seedlings to Cocoa Life farmers, helping them grow more healthier and productive trees
• Mapped ~115,000 hectares of cocoa farms to measure farm productivity more accurately and understand farmers’ proximity to protected forest areas, so we can take action
• Supported the activation of 850+ Community Action Plans (CAPs) and ensured these were included in the public development plans to help secure resources; 430+ communities have already completed one or more of their CAP projects
• Beyond critical child protection interventions, trained 6,400+ youth on cocoa-related enterprises and created opportunities for them to work in nurseries and provide services to farmers
• Established 1,200+ Village Savings and Loan Associations with 22,300+ community members, of which ~80% are women, providing access to finance and improving financial literacy
• Trained 34,700+ community members on Good Environmental Practices to conserve ecosystems and farmland for future generations

"At Mondelēz International, building positive impact for people and our planet is at the core of who we are and it accelerates our company’s growth. It’s why we believe Cocoa Life, our sustainable cocoa sourcing program, is critical to our business."

Christine Montenegro McGrath,
Chief Well-being, Sustainability and Public Affairs Officer, Mondelēz International

We know there is still work to be done and will continue to work closely with our partners, share best practices and learn from each other. By creating thriving cocoa communities, we can help inspire the next generation and secure a sustainable future for cocoa.