With the launch of Mondelēz International’s 2020 Snacking Made Right report last week, we reflect on Cocoa Life’s progress, impact and scale-up over the last year: a year that has proved to be like no other. At Mondelēz International, we continue to drive positive change across the cocoa industry and have increased our sustainable cocoa sourcing through Cocoa Life. The 2020 report demonstrates how Cocoa Life sits at the heart of Mondelēz’s purpose of Snacking Made Right and how we are making cocoa, the essence of our chocolate, right.

For almost 9 years now, Cocoa Life’s holistic approach has addressed the complex challenges cocoa farmers face on the ground, including guiding our community support through the pandemic. Whilst we have not been able to get on the ground as much as hoped this last year, we are proud of the strong progress and encouraging impact we have seen across our key areas of intervention:

Since 2012, we’ve trained 181,257 farmers in Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and have started piloting Targeted GAP approaches in Ghana where we supply farmers with a tailored package of services. We’re seeing encouraging impact: Cocoa Life registered farmers’ income is 22% higher in Ghana and 8% higher in Côte d’Ivoire when compared to non-Cocoa Life farmers.

Through our impact measurement, we’re also learning more about what’s needed to strengthen the income portfolio of cocoa farming households. Our recent paper No Silver Bullets, shows that to lift everyone towards a Living Income, it is necessary to consider and address the drivers of farmer income holistically - through sector wide collaboration, coordinated by government leadership.

Community Action Plans (CAPs) are central to empowering cocoa communities to lead their own development. By the end of 2020, 1,959 Cocoa Life communities had an action plan in place to advocate for their own development. In West Africa, CAPs have been activated in 91% of Cocoa Life communities - reaching more than 2.1 million people across 320,000 households - with 65% of these CAPs financially backed by local governments. These numbers translate into tangible impact for people within their communities - men, women and children. Education infrastructure is the number one priority for CAPs of Cocoa Life supported communities, helping improve access to quality education and making a lasting change into the future.

We can also see that our tailored approaches to community needs are working. In Indonesia, the integration of the local bottom-up community development approach Musrenbang has led to 81% of farmers and 86% of community leaders agreeing that the concept has improved community planning and development projects.

Central to child protection is our Child Labor Monitoring & Remediation System (CLMRS), of which we have implemented 513 in Cocoa Life communities in West Africa, reaching more than 620,000 people. We also continued our ambition to financially empower communities through Village Savings and Loan Associations, and we had more than 3,200 in operation by the end of 2020, with 75% of participants being women.

By the end of 2020, we have distributed more than 2.2 million non-cocoa trees and mapped over 167,000 farms to monitor deforestation - that’s 71% of Cocoa Life farms, up +12% from last year. On top of this, Good Environmental Practices (GEP) trainings in West Africa are making a difference: 82% of farmers have changed their practices to reduce climate impact.

We’ve also successfully scaled our Payment for Environmental Service (PES) agroforestry scheme in Côte d’Ivoire and launched in Ghana and Indonesia. By the end of 2020, we had signed PES contracts with 1,537 farmers in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, with farmers receiving payments in return for protecting the environment.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

We have a clear direction and focus - and share more about how we are continuing to make cocoa right in the report. Our vision is one that goes beyond our own supply chain, to transforming the sector and building a better future for cocoa by working closely with farming communities and industry-wide partners for long-term maximum impact. We’re excited about the potential of landscape-wide partnerships and to be part of many that address key issues; from tackling climate change through various partnerships under the Cocoa & Forests Initiative, to investing in the CLEF and ELAN partnerships that will improve the quality and reach of education for children across Côte d’Ivoire. We hope these collaborations continue to act as an inspiration for the sector.

With new EU due diligence legislation expected to be proposed later this year, we are pleased to be moving towards a level playing field when it comes to the mandatories of sustainability. But we are not done yet. To future proof cocoa as a crop, we need to work together with farmers, communities, sector peers and governments to champion partnerships focused on holistic change for the better. We also need to continue innovating and piloting new interventions, using consistent measurement to understand the true impact we have, course correcting where necessary and transparently share our learnings along the way. Together, we must create a better future for cocoa: one where farmers can build sustainable livelihoods, cocoa communities can prosper, women are empowered, and where the environment is protected.