Entry: Marisa Yoneyama, World Cocoa Foundation

As we approach Valentine’s Day, a holiday traditionally tied to the gift of chocolate, let’s think about where cocoa comes from and how it travels on its complex journey from farms to consumers. Globally, there are over five million independent cocoa farmers in Africa, the Americas, and Southeast Asia. Farmers grow cocoa trees on small farms in hot, rainy environments, mostly in areas near the equator. Cocoa is a delicate and sensitive crop, and farmers must look after the trees, making sure the trees are protected from the wind and sun. Most cocoa trees begin to bear fruit in the fifth year. In the U.S. alone, over 68,000 jobs are directly involved in the manufacture of confectionery and chocolate products. When the distribution and sale of these products is taken into consideration, the employment effect triples.

Challenges in the agriculture sector such as the worst child labor abuses, climate change, and farmer productivity need a variety of committed stakeholders who empower farmers and build up communities. This means bringing together farmer organizations, industry, governments, academia, consumers, media, and non-governmental organizations to work together. There is no single, simple solution to address the wide range of challenges and issues in this complex chain.

The media and other advocacy groups play an important role in bringing to light the challenges in the cocoa sector in social and environmental areas.

We recognize the need and the benefit of supporting access to education and training. In rural areas where schools do not exist, we work toward creating partnerships that will see those schools built and run effectively. In remote communities were farmers are using traditional, perhaps outdated, methods of farming that produce low yields, we create partnerships that train farmers with new methods of caring for their farms, provide them with improved planting material, and make educational opportunities available so they can be effective in the marketplace. Our hope is that educated children will grow into responsible adults who will continue to drive positive change and growth in their communities. And our hope is that adults will lift up their communities through their successes and be empowered to support their children to do the same.

We believe that child labor is usually a symptom of wider problems, including poverty. WCF programs expand educational opportunities for youth, provide basic literacy training, agricultural knowledge, leadership skills, and vocational education. We believe helping the entire farm family will improve conditions for the children. Through our training programs, we educate adult farmers, youth and children about appropriate and inappropriate activities for children helping on the family farm.

To provide context for impact and results through these programs, to date, WCF has reached over 480,000 cocoa farmers worldwide through training and education, and we have reached over 380,000 students through direct literacy and agricultural training as well as training of teachers and administrators. As of last year, farmers who completed WCF training programs reported a 75% increase in yields in Ghana and a 70% increase in yields in Côte d’Ivoire, over the year prior.

There has been much progress made and successes we have witnessed through our programs. There have also been challenges along the way and many lessons that we have learned. There is a long road ahead of us – we don’t kid ourselves by thinking that a single solution or entity can solve the issues of over five million independent cocoa farmers around the world. We are on the ground in these communities and can see for ourselves what issues farmers and their families face – and how we can help.

We encourage you to visit the WCF website to learn more about cocoa and how you can get involved.