The rural communities that grow and trade cocoa across Africa often lack basic infrastructure, including access to clean water. If there is no borehole or well, community members – typically women and children – must walk to the nearest water source (a stream or river, which may be polluted) to collect water each day, carrying the heavy, filled buckets back to their homes. Your company can reduce this time-consuming, physically demanding labor by supporting a new well or borehole in a rural cocoa community in Africa, bringing fresh, clean water to all.
The first step in moving cocoa off farms and towards the port of export is purchasing the beans from smallholders. The licensed buying companies, cooperatives, and other cocoa producer organizations that handle this first step in the supply chain must have significant cash on hand to pay farmers, with the greatest need for liquidity occurring at the start of the West African main harvest, in September. Pre-financing ensures these first-mile traders can purchase cocoa in the volumes and quality you need. If your company is in a position to offer pre-financing, ACM’s Certification Report will give comprehensive insights into a seller’s business health, so you can make an informed decision on financing the costs of first-mile cocoa trading.
Though women and men both do cocoa farm work, most jobs beyond the farm are filled by men: from the purchasing clerks who buy beans from smallholders, to managers of cocoa trading businesses, to extension officers that provide agricultural trainings. However, many cocoa sellers understand the value of making the cocoa industry more gender equitable, and offer programming to enhance women’s professional skills and step into cocoa industry roles. If your company supports gender equity, ACM can facilitate an impact investment into gender programming with a seller organization, and provide regular
Women-led: The business is majority owned or managed by women.
Organic: The cocoa is produced under certified organic conditions.
EUDR-ready: Complies with European Union import documentation requirements.
