Mondelēz International has launched the next phase of its Cocoa Life program, backed by an additional $600 million through 2030, for a total $1 billion investment since the start of the program. The goal is to increase cocoa volume at scale and work with about 300,000 farmers to improve their livelihoods by 2030.
The company introduced Cocoa Life in 2012 to secure the supply of more sustainable cocoa and establish an integrated approach striving to tackle the root causes of systemic issues in cocoa, including farm productivity, farmer livelihoods, community development, and helping combat child labor and deforestation, together in one program. The program has now reached critical scale with over 200,000 farmers in the program and $400 million invested by the end of this year.
Key lessons from the past 10 years will allow Mondelēz International to accelerate the Cocoa Life program. These learnings include applying an integrated approach to help deliver impact at scale suited to the farmer, community, and landscape; focusing on enabling farmers to increase their income; and accelerating innovation in cocoa production supported by incentives designed to professionalize smallholder cocoa farming and introduce climate-resilient, new producing models.
By 2030, the program aims to increase the number of farming households earning a living income by working collaboratively to develop a mechanism that supports a decent price for farmers and working with women groups to help develop additional business opportunities; continue to scale up child labor monitoring and remediation systems and actively engage in public-private partnerships to improve quality education; and help strengthen deforestation monitoring systems, promote agroforestry, and make forest conservation more attractive.
