A way towards a living income for Ghanaian cocoa farmers

Our approach

• We chose to form a partnership with Kuapa Kokoo in this project since, in addition to having been Fairtrade certified for a long time, it is a strong organisation that can guarantee 100% transparency and traceability. Within the cooperative there is a dedicated committee monitoring farmer communities to prevent child labour.
• Lidl will act as overall coordinator of the Way To Go initiative. Together with Kuapa Kokoo, two interventions were selected on income diversification and good agricultural practices that will contribute directly to the future sustainability of the business. These interventions will be managed jointly by Rikolto, Fairtrade Africa and Kuapa Kokoo. The more Way To Go advances, the more farmers will be able to benefit from the interventions. Rikolto, besides giving advice, will carry out a cost-benefit analysis and look at the economic rationale of the project’s interventions. In the future, Lidl hopes to be able to add more interventions, focusing on e.g. agroforestry, child labour, …
• Since diversifying farmers' incomes and professionalising their production process are two important pillars of this projects, our colleagues will provide support in this regard.

1. We will train experts among the farmers to ensure that plant protection products are used according to the strictest standards, that pruning and post-harvesting practices will be carried out properly and, at a later stage, we will introduce agroforestry to plant shade and fruit trees within cocoa plantations. This will contribute to reducing the negative impact of climate change and guarantee increased productivity.
2. Income diversification is the backbone of this project, and we will join forces with the farmers to grow other crops and to process additional products such as rice, honey and soap and bring these products successfully to the market.

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• In a first stage, Rikolto will set up a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) system, which is a microcredit activity at community level to make investments in farming and community businesses possible. In the past, when such initiatives were set up, we observed that women were the first to come and, finally, the number of women who benefited from VSLAs was greater than the number of men, making it a very strong female empowerment tool. Through the VSLA, we will train women to start seedling nursery activities. In this way, women can sell the seedlings to other community members who will need them for agroforestry practices, get an income from them and, at the same time, contribute to solving the issue of deforestation.
• Young people who want to get directly involved in cocoa production, and who already own a small plot and have other resources, will be supported in applying good agricultural practices and helped to set up their business with advice and encouragement. The second option will target those who do not want to be cocoa farmers. We will train and help them to start Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that will provide services such as pruning and weeding.
• Lessons learned will be shared with the Living Income Community of Practice and Beyond Chocolate co-signers.