The Future of Farmer Empowerment: Enabling living income through an inclusive, farmer-centric approach to the digital revolution

The project focuses on addressing sustainability and social challenges within the cocoa industries of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, which are major cocoa producers globally. Both countries heavily rely on cocoa cultivation, which supports millions of smallholder farmers. However, the cocoa sector in these nations faces significant issues such as low prices, farmer poverty, child labour, and deforestation.

Addressing these risks requires comprehensive, collaborative efforts to promote sustainable practices and improve farmers' livelihoods. Project partners Tony’s Open Chain and Agriterra are deeply committed to social sustainability. Together they aim to improve farmer livelihoods through financial inclusion, leveraging digital tools for transparent cocoa premium payments, while ensuring vulnerable groups are not left behind. The project will support two partner cooperatives in Ghana and four partner cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire. Among the targeted beneficiaries, women and those not earning a living income from cocoa farming will receive specialized support.

Overall, the project aims to uplift cocoa farmers' livelihoods, promote sustainability, and address social challenges within the cocoa supply chain. The partners plan to implement a comprehensive, collaborative approach, starting with a thorough consultative process together with the cooperatives and their communities to develop an inclusive action plan, complemented by local impact assessments, dialogue sessions and validation workshops.