Sustainable cocoa

What is a living income? How is it calculated? Why has it become important for governments, aid agencies and companies in the last few decades? Stephanie, member of the International Board of Directors at Rikolto, shares with us the current status of work on living income, and the solutions, investment, and synergies she has gathered from stakeholders in Peru and in the world. 

Rikolto launched its cocoa and coffee programme in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. It has secured funding from the DGD to work with 13,000 cocoa farmers, governments and other stakeholders in the cocoa sector to ensure a living income for the producers.

Five years ago, we introduced you to Freddy Mairena, a Nicaraguan cocoa farmer. Freddy’s honest and friendly smile can be found today in the promotional images of the Boni "Nicaragua" chocolate in the Colruyt Group retail shops in Belgium. Here is Freddy’s story now: from producer to entrepreneur.

In this project, Rikolto sought to attract the young generation's interest in agriculture through digital-based farming and agripreneurship. 

Rikolto joined forces with Colruyt Group, Entreprise Cooperative de Saint Paul (ECSP), Puratos, Access Agriculture, Agro Insight and Fairtrade Belgium to move towards a living income for cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast. One year after the start of the project, we take a look at the first results.

The agreement seeks to position and reinforce Peru's differentiation as an exporter of quality cocoa, with verified origin attributes and deforestation-free by 2025. Rikolto is joining 19 organisations from the cocoa value chain in the country to promote this important initiative, within the framework of the Coalition for Sustainable Production.

Fernando García went from producing in a monoculture model to developing a diversified farm cultivating cocoa, grains, fruit, and timber. The 67-year-old farmer learned about cocoa cultivation from scratch.

Central America and the Dominican Republic have a new strategy for the cocoa sector to increase youth participation and to tackle climate change. Find out more about the determination of 8 countries to collaborate to achieve sustainable cocoa production.

Pangoa, a Peruvian farmers’ organisation, is known to produce fine native cocoa of the highest quality. Óbolo Chocolate, in Chile, makes internationally award-winning chocolate from bean to bar, using only organic cocoa from Pangoa. Together they make a winning duo, recognised in international markets.

Of the 12 million hectares of trees lost in 2020 in the tropics, 4.2 million hectares were primary forests. Forest loss increased by 12% compared to 2019, marking another regrettable step towards increased climate instability and biodiversity decline.

On 10 November 2021, the project "Positioning Shade-Grown Cocoa to Improve Conservation and Rural Livelihoods" was launched to protect a critical piece of the world’s second-largest rainforest from deforestation due to cocoa agriculture.

In 2021, the Peruvian farmer organisation Pangoa is moving towards an ambitious agroforestry development plan that benefits its coffee and cocoa crops in alliance with Cooperative Coffees, one of its most important clients. The U.S. company has been investing $35,000 in this plan based on evidence from previous studies and initiatives of the farmer organisation developed with Rikolto and academia.

In this new episode of Rikolto's podcast, in 7 minutes you will learn what agroforestry systems are all about, why their application in cocoa production could contribute to reducing the impact on the environment, and the effects suffered by cocoa-producing families due to climate change.

Chocoben is an Ecuadorian company with more than 20 years experience producing and marketing of cocoa beans. After successfully completing an intensive training programme, Chocoben obtained their first loan to support cocoa enterprises from the credit cooperative Jardín Azuayo. Find out how Chocoben has used this opportunity.

In this second episode of Rikolto´s podcast, Abdulahi Aliyu, coordinator of Rikolto´s global cocoa programme explains the concept of Living Income in the cocoa value chain and the complex factors that need to be in place to produce a chocolate bar that is delicious and good for the people and the planet.

Bartolomé and other young indigenous Panamanians from the region Ngäbe-Buglé have taken up cocoa cultivation with their families using agroforestry systems (SAF) to protect the environment in their community in the face of increasing extensive cattle ranching. Read more about their story.

Tenacity and resilience are words that describe Yamileth Torrez. At the age of 27, she is a survivor of Covid-19, the shocks of two hurricanes and losses to her income from cocoa production due to the effects of climate variability.

Four years ago, captivated by the flavours of cocoa and chocolate, members of the Youth Committee of the Peruvian farmer organisation Pangoa wanted to specialise in those areas. Today they can be recognised as tasters of cocoa paste and liquor. What impact did the certification have on the young people's professional lives, and what "quality" footprint does the new professionals leave in cooperatives like Pangoa? Find out more in this article.

This farm, whose name reflects what its owner Juan Pablo Ruiz initially saw in it, has grown from 9.6 hectares of pastureland to a national reference farm with three organic certification seals for coffee and cocoa, agroforestry systems, orchards, pruning management, windbreaks, water management and a barrier against chemicals.

Jessica is a cocoa producer, mother and community leader. She has been promoting generational change in the farmers' organisation Fortaleza del Valle for a few years now, as well as the improvement of cocoa plantations. How does Jessica see the future of the organisation with more women leaders like her? Read her vision in this story.

Mambasa, DR Congo has an enormously rich biodiversity. But poaching and massive deforestation for agriculture threaten the region. The young farmers of Cacao Okapi opt for a radically different approach. You can taste that approach in a Belgian-Congolese gourmet chocolate from Veliche: Okapi 65.

We were supposed to interview two young farmer members of the cooperative in April 2020 with a camera crew. Unfortunately, not one but two crises postponed our visit with Rikolto: first the Covid-19 crisis, and in November, two severe hurricanes that caused irreparable damage in Central America. We arrived on Yamileth and Santiago's land nine months later. This is their story of resilience.

In Junín, the Pangoa farmer organisation grows "native fine aroma" cocoa, a favourite for fine chocolates. But in the area, the more productive "introduced clones" of cocoa are growing in popularity. So they decided to fight fire with fire and create their own "clones" of native cocoa. What is the clone strategy in Pangoa? How is native cocoa winning the battle in Peru? Read it in this article.

In the Cocoa Barometer 2020, a broad coalition of civil society organisations assess the sustainability performance of the cocoa sector. "In-depth system change is urgently needed."

A diversified agroforestry system saved a cocoa-producing farm from being wiped out by Hurricanes Iota and Eta in Nicaragua when trees of different species protected the cocoa plants from winds of up to 260 kilometres per hour.

The "apple of his eye" for Wilber Escobar are his 700 cocoa plants from "a fine and aromatic cocoa strain" that he grows on the Santa Emilia farm in Ahuachapán, El Salvador.

Among the cocoa trees, there is a hidden treasure that producers are just beginning to discover... It's the vegetables, fruits, herbs and condiments that are grown on cocoa farms that contribute to cocoa farmers' food and nutrition security.

Science gives us a better understanding of where, when, and to what degree climate change will have an impact. But the day to day reality, knowledge, and socio-economic position of the farmers might provide us with information about what the possibilities and obstacles are for the widespread adaptation of resilient practices.

Nicaraguan cocoa cooperative La Campesina has not stopped selling its cocoa. However, due to the Covid crisis, many farmers do not leave their homes to supply themselves with the basic food basket and miscellaneous products. Learn how agroforestry systems are an alternative when food security is threatened.

Santiago and the cocoa producers have not stopped their agricultural work despite the Covid-19. What has changed is the way knowledge is transferred and technical assistance is provided.

Peru, Honduras, Nicaragua, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic are some of the countries that showcased cocoa best practices in response to the pandemic during the Online Cocoa & Chocolate Summit 2020. The event was organized by Conexión Chocolate and MOCCA (USDA, TechnoServe, LWR and Rikolto).

The super fair-trade chocolate 'Way to Go!' developed by Lidl Belgium, Rikolto, Fairtrade Belgium and Kuapa Kokoo, will be sold in 2,000 stores in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands as of this year.

"In every crisis lies opportunity" perfectly sums up the case of the organic and fair-trade cocoa industry in Honduras: Chocolats Halba has seen a 30% increase in demand for its product since the quarantine in Switzerland started.

Over the next three years, Colruyt Group and Rikolto in Ivory Coast will collaborate with Fairtrade Belgium, the chocolate processor Puratos and UGent to make Colruyt Group's private label chocolate more sustainable.

In 2019, the Peruvian cooperative of Pangoa has once again placed itself on the list of the world's most exquisite cocoas. The Paris Chocolate Salon has traced its name in the list of the 50 most exclusive shows. Read more about how the people of Pangoa take care of their land and business.

Rikolto's Cocoa Manager Peni Agustijanto shares his experience in facilitating the business model canvas training for farmer organisations and village-owned enterprises (BUMDes) in West Sulawesi. Read his story.

In December last year, Rikolto co-signed the Beyond Chocolate charter: the joint ambition of the Belgian chocolate and retail sector, civil society, social impact investors and universities to make Belgian chocolate more sustainable. This industry-wide commitment aims to tackle child labour, combat deforestation and ensure a viable income for local cocoa producers.

On the Dominican part of the island of Hispaniola, four shade-grown cacao varieties prevail in agroforestry systems: National, Trinitarian (from Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil), Criollo from Venezuela and a small amount of Forastero cacao from Brazil. These varieties were very carefully introduced to the island, which keeps a detailed record of the origins of its cacao.

Two researchers from the University of Wageningen visited the cocoa growing area in Polman district. They studied the business relations between the farmer organisation, called Amanah, and Mars. Our colleague Peni Agustijanto explains the role Rikolto plays in the cocoa sector in this area.

Will smallholder cocoa farmers remain competitive in Central America? This was the main question throughout a learning journey that was organised by The National Cocoa Value Chain Committee of Honduras, VECO Mesoamérica, Sustainable Food Lab and the World Cocoa Foundation. The experience aimed to stimulate a joint analysis for developing a common regional vision of a sustainable cocoa sector and a regional cocoa strategy adapted to climate change.