The income of cocoa farmers heavily relies on the price they receive for their harvest. Currently, despite historically high cocoa prices on the global market and efforts by governments, most farming families in the main producing countries like Ghana and Ivory Coast struggle to attain a Living Income. The initiatives of the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa align with UN Sustainable Development Goals, aiming to eradicate poverty and hunger by 2030.
Key points highlighted in the Issue Brief "The Cocoa Price – A Key Factor for a Living Income for Farmers":
- Mitigate price volatility: Cocoa prices are volatile due to various factors, impeding efforts to stabilise incomes. Solutions include investing in farmers' resilience, promoting sustainable production methods, and exploring alternative income sources. Additionally, sustainability premiums that include a substantial surplus over the world market prices help to stabilise farming families' incomes.
- Adopt sustainable procurement practices: Sustainability premiums and direct sourcing are promising approaches to enhancing farmers' livelihoods. Long-term, trust-based trading relationships within the value chain provide security and ensure product quality and traceability.
- Enabling government action: Producer countries can implement measures such as targeted supply management, diversification of agricultural output, and enhancing farm-gate prices through improving supply chain efficiency, all while ensuring transparency and accessibility in support measures.
You can access the Issue Brief (in English, German and French) here:
The Cocoa Price – A Key Factor for a Living Income
Der Kakaopreis – Ein Schlüsselfaktor für ein existenzsicherndes Einkommen
Le prix du cacao – un facteur clé pour un revenu de subsistence