Bitter Chocolate: The Difficult Road to a Living Income for West-African Cocoa Farmers

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is a tropical cash crop that provides income to 4.5 millionfarming families worldwide. In Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer (38 % of global cocoasupplies), 82 % of cocoa farmers do not earn a living income, which is the net income a householdwould need to earn to enable all members of the household to afford a decent standard of living. In thepresent paper, we explore how the cocoa sustainability initiatives of two Belgian cocoa value chainactors (Oxfam Fair Trade Belgium and Galler SA) attempt to close the gap between current cocoa farmingincome and a living income. They do that through (i) cocoa productivity improving initiatives; (ii)paying cocoa premium prices; and (iii) farm income diversification. We highlight the opportunities aswell as risks and challenges of the specific actions undertaken in both cases and conclude that relyingon one strategy alone is unlikely to significantly contribute to closing the living income gap.