The World’s Largest Chocolate Company, Mars Incorporated has launched two “farmer-first” projects that will help 14,000 smallholder farmers in Côte d’Ivoire and Indonesia earn a sustainable living wage over the next eight years.
The project is designed to address persistent barriers to cocoa farmers’ ability to achieve a living income. Most cocoa today is grown on small family farms with little access to electricity, clean water, reliable roads, or quality schools.
“Mars deciphered the cocoa plant DNA for the first time ten years ago. “Today, our goal is to break the code on a sustainable living wage for cocoa farmers, so that they and their families may thrive for generations,” says Barry Parkin, Mars’ Chief Sustainability and Procurement Officer.
“Efforts to enhance farmer livelihoods based on band-aid solutions or single concerns in isolation will not provide the necessary transformation,” he says.
“While farmers may recognize what needs to be done to better their crops and lives, they may lack the market support to implement such improvements.”
“Through this new effort, we are removing roadblocks in their way, including a lack of financial resources and the need to adapt to climate change.”
Increasing the value of actors along the chocolate supply chain. Mars described its initiative as a “holistic endeavor” aimed at removing recurring roadblocks to cocoa producers’ ability to make a living. The majority of cocoa is now cultivated on small family farms with limited access to electricity, clean water, safe roads, and good schools.