Resources

The Living Income Community of Practice, co-hosted by GIZ, ISEAL and the Sustainable Food Lab and the GIZ Programme “Sustainable Supply Chains and Standards” are currently calculating ‘Living Income’ Benchmarks for the cocoa-producing regions in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

In this study, the Center for Evaluation evaluates Fairtrade’s contribution to poverty reduction through rural development. It evaluates cocoa, coffee, cotton flower, tea and bananas as a follow up to a similar evaluation carried out in 2011/12.

The impact of public and private interventions aimed at increasing the income of smallholder in many agricultural commodities has been insufficient. Today, farmers clearly do not earn a decent standard of living. In recognition of this fact, a debate on living income has appeared on the agenda of leaders in public and private spheres.

The Cocoa Barometer 2018 provides an overview of the current sustainability developments in the cocoa sector and highlights critical issues that are not receiving sufficient attention at present.

Child labour is prevalent in cocoa-producing regions of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. In most cases, the children are working within the family unit and not earning an income. Poverty, lack of affordable labour and lack of post-primary educational opportunities are among the main reasons why children are engaged in child labour. By providing labour services at an affordable rate below market price, Community Service Groups are providing cocoa farmers with an alternative to child labour.