Cocoa Life Progress Report 2016

Progress Blog
Impact at scale: 2016 progress report

Cocoa Life is our long-term journey to create a vibrant cocoa supply chain while transforming the lives and livelihoods of cocoa farmers and their communities. Our 2016 Progress Report demonstrates the progress and scale we’ve achieved, highlighting the various partnerships and activities initiated throughout the year. The purpose of this report is to show how Cocoa Life is growing and scaling up its interventions. Later this year, we’ll publish assessments of our 10 global key performance indicators, which track the impact we achieve on the ground.

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

Cathy Pieters

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

Christine Montenegro McGrath

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.

2016 GLOBAL PROGRESS DASHBOARD

This dashboard demonstrates the scale achieved by the end of 2016 and how Cocoa Life is making progress in three key cocoa origin countries: Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Indonesia. Cocoa Life monitors the below output indicators under five focus areas. These are interventions we put in place with our partners.

Farming
Farming icon
Farmers trained on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)1
74,473
Cocoa seedlings distributed (through Cocoa Life)
2,731,348
Cocoa farming demonstration plots established2
658
Nurseries created3
284
Hectares of cocoa farms mapped4
114,775

1. Farmers trained are farmers enrolled in the program. Once they follow the attendance criteria, they are selected as Cocoa Life farmers. GAPs are recommendations made to the farmers so they can increase the yield on their farms. 
2. Demonstration plots show what "good" looks like so farmers know what to expect when adopting the GAP. 
3. This includes both professional and traditional nurseries. 
4. One hectare is 10,000 square meters. To compare, a football field is about 7,500 square meters. 
Community
Community icon
Community Development Committees (CODECs) operational in communities1
590
Community Action Plans (CAPs) activated2
854
Communities with CAP projects completed3
434
Community members trained on gender awareness
46,645

5. CODEC members are elected by their communities (or comparable) to represent them in defining the CAP priorities. CODECs may cover several communities. 
6. Cocoa Life facilitates the development of the CAP through the CODEC. The CAP defines the priorities the community (or comparable) agrees to work on and is owned by the community. A CAP may cover several communities. 
7. These communities have successfully raised resources and advocated to start implementing any of the 10 priorities listed in the CAP. 
Livelihoods
Livelihoods icon
Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) established1
1,208
Community members who participate in VSLAs
22,367
VSLAs linked to finance institutions2
5
Community members trained on financial literacy3
10,149
Community members trained on business management4
16,254
Community members involved in additional Income Generating Activities (IGA)
6,796

8. A VSLA (or a similar model) is a group of people who save together and take small loans from those savings. 
9. Once a VSLA is strong enough, we link them with financial institutions so they can access professional banking services. 
14. Financial literacy includes training on saving, loans, and household financial planning. 
15. This includes knowledge on business planning, administration and marketing for small enterprises. 
Youth
Youth icon
Community members and farmers educated on issues of child labor and forced child labor
48,818
Communities with Child Protection Committees (CPCs)1
489
Communities with a Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS)2
96
Youth trained on cocoa-related enterprises3
6,414

10. The primary purpose of the CPC is to promote and protect the total well-being of all children in the community. Its responsibilities include liaising with the School Management Committee and the Parents-Teachers Associations to ensure all school-going children are enrolled and retained in schools. 
11. Cocoa Life's CLMRS is community-based and child-centric. Its scope goes beyond the cocoa supply chain to include the community as a whole, and addresses the issue from prevention to remediation. 
12. Youth is the age range from 18-35 in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, and 15-24 in Indonesia. 
Environment
Environment icon
Community members trained on Good Environmental Practices (GEPs)1
34,744
Economic shade trees distributed (through Cocoa Life)
814,119

13. GEPs are recommended practices which will include, for instance, how to conserve the soil or practices for reasonable and safe use of agrochemicals. 
About the Dashboard
Cocoa Life routinely collects monitoring data from our partners as part of the ongoing review of program performance at the local level, so we can apply learnings to improve program outcomes in the future.
2016 Year in Review
Monthly Activites

We’re continuing to make progress on our Cocoa Life journey. Here’s a closer look at what we’ve achieved and the various partners we’ve worked with along the way.

Q1
FEBRUARY 23, 2016 — COCOA LIFE 2015 PROGRESS REPORT

Our first Cocoa Life Progress Report shares the impact, successes and challenges from 2015 through the voices of 27 people touched by the program across the globe.

MARCH 15, 2016 — INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY IN NYC

Members of Mondelēz International’s leadership team gathered with women from other cutting-edge organizations at the International Women's Day Forum.

MARCH 22, 2016 — INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY IN GHANA

For International Women’s Day, we brought together 540 women in the Wassa East district of Ghana to celebrate, support and recognize the women in these cocoa communities.

Q2
APRIL 12, 2016 — INTERACTIVE COCOA FARM MAP

Do you wonder where the cocoa in your chocolate comes from? With our new Interactive Cocoa Farm Map, anyone can see where our Cocoa Life farmers and farms are located in the click of a button.

MAY 23, 2016 — EMBODE 2016 CHILD PROTECTION ASSESSMENTS

As part of our commitment to help eliminate child labor in cocoa communities, we commissioned Embode to assess the environment and national child protection infrastructure in our key cocoa-producing countries: Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.

Q3
JULY 1, 2016 — EXPANSION OF SEEDLING PROGRAM

In partnership with CocoaAction, we expanded our seedling program from Ghana to Côte d’Ivoire and Indonesia to provide farmers with improved seedlings that produce higher yields.

AUGUST 30, 2016 — PARTNERSHIPS IN INDONESIA

In partnership with Swisscontact, Cargill and Wahana Visi Indonesia, Cocoa Life is developing sustainable livelihoods in cocoa communities with Community Action Plans.

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 — PARTNERSHIPS IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Cocoa Life, Fundación Reddom and the United Nations Development Programme have partnered to improve farmer incomes and practices, and inspire the next generation.

Q4
OCTOBER 20, 2016 — CARE INTERNATIONAL 2016 WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT REPORT

CARE International assessed Cocoa Life’s women’s empowerment efforts in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. As a result, Cocoa Life published its evolved approach on women’s empowerment.

NOVEMBER 3, 2016 — #WOMEN4COCOA TWITTER JAM

For International Day of the Girl, Cocoa Life teamed up with CARE International and Oxfam on a Twitter Chat about the importance and leadership of women in cocoa communities.

NOVEMBER 10, 2016 — COCOAACTION 2015 ANNUAL REPORT

In 2014, Mondelēz International joined forces with the World Cocoa Foundation and other leading chocolate and cocoa companies to create CocoaAction. The first Annual Report describes its approach and efforts.

DECEMBER 20, 2016 — FARMER COACHING PROGRAM IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Cocoa Life introduced a new one-on-one coaching program to teach farmers about Good Agricultural Practices, while providing access to farming inputs and banking services.

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