Scaling Impact: How Fairtrade’s Train the Trainer Model Transforms Cocoa Farming

Chocolate is a $130 billion industry, built on the labor of small-scale farmers from growing regions around the Earth’s equator. Sixty percent of the world’s cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate, comes from a single region: West Africa.

Small-scale cocoa farmers in West Africa have been exploited for decades by more powerful players in the cocoa supply chain. Though their work is integral to the chocolate industry and the most labor intensive, they receive the smallest slice of the profits. Many cocoa farmers in West Africa live on less than $1 a day.

Fairtrade partners with small-scale cocoa farmers and the farming organizations they belong to in West Africa to improve their economic, social and environmental sustainability. Our latest report details how our West Africa Cocoa Program is scaling impact.

Joining a farming organization, also referred to as an SPO, helps farmers access new markets and increase their profits by trading with customers seeking large quantities of cocoa. Membership can also provide other benefits like access to fertilizers, tools and financing. Fairtrade certified SPOs make decisions democratically, a core Fairtrade principle, providing opportunities for individual farmers to voice their needs and collectively make an impact in their communities and businesses.

West Africa’s farming organizations span a variety of economic, social and environmental contexts. Fairtrade conducts needs assessments for participating farming organizations to determine where support is needed and then facilitates trainings tailored to those specific needs. Trainings include topics like gender equality, child labor, sustainable agricultural practices, preparing for the European Union’s impending deforestation regulation legislation, financial management, diversification and information management systems. Because of this program, all Fairtrade cocoa organizations in West Africa receive core training on meeting the Fairtrade Standards and support in maintaining their certification.

Long-term investment at the farm level creates more resilient supply chains and allows farming organizations and farmers to grow alongside their business partners. That’s why 36% of Fairtrade licensee fees are invested in our global network’s efforts to support farming organizations and farmers, including programs like the West Africa Cocoa Program. These fees also help develop Fairtrade Standards (including pricing) and cultivate markets for certified products like the US.

Climate change and inflation, compounding global crises that threaten our food systems, make this work more important than ever before. Through this funding, we are equipping farming organizations and farmers with the knowledge and skills needed to adapt to today’s challenges.