Women in Cocoa Farming
Working with partners to help understand and overcome barriers for women cocoa farmers
[EMEA]/[Cote d’Ivoire]
Our partnership with CARE has focused on tackling long-term approaches to some of the world’s pressing issues by building production capacity of smallholder farmers, connecting producers to Cargill supply chains, improving nutrition and food security, providing access to education, improving access to safe drinking water, and empowering women in Cargill agricultural communities.
Cargill and CARE have been partners for more than 60 years. In the last 15 years, the partnership has reached more than 4.6 million people through 34 projects in 12 countries, including Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, Benin, Egypt, India, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
The programs in each country have been unique and customized to meet regional and local needs yet drive common results by:
- Building agricultural production and technical capacity of smallholder farmers, particularly women farmers,
- Connecting producers to markets, including opportunities with Cargill and our customers,
- Improving nutrition and food security of communities, providing access to education, and supporting better sanitation and health.
Overlapping global presence, shared commitment to socially responsible business, and common core values and culture have led to what CARE and Cargill now consider a model partnership.
Empowering women and girls
Building resilient supply chains is at the core of our work at Cargill, and we know women play a critical part in driving the long-term change needed to strengthen the food system - especially at a time when we’re seeing the effects of the global hunger crisis. That is why we have prioritized collaboration with vital partners such as CARE to implement programs that improve the livelihoods of agricultural communities, with a particular focus on women.
In alignment with CARE’s She Feeds the World framework, Cargill and CARE have worked directly with women to strengthen their skills and confidence in sustainable agriculture practices, financial inclusion, market engagement, gender equality, and food and nutrition security—while also engaging with men and boys to support efforts for greater equality. During our work together, we have positively impacted more than 2.4 million women.
Our work in action:
- In Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, 665 gender dialogues have been held with 13,329 people (8,143 women). The sessions focused on addressing inequities in workloads and household decision-making among men and women. In Côte d’Ivoire, it led to an increase of 35% women taking part in household financial decision-making processes. Have you met Marie? She needed a new way to provide for her family, we helped her open a business.
- Across Central America, the Nourishing the Future program has provided training, technical and financial support to nearly 300 women livestock producers. Take a look at how the tilapia producer, Magdalena Rivera, participated in technical trainings as part of the Program. Do you want to meet Ana Beatriz, Melissa Fajardo, and María Helena? These three central American women were part of the Nourishing the Future program.
- In 2016, Barbara was invited to learn homestead gardening through a program designed to teach people in areas like Larwehkrom how to grow enough food to make it through Ghana’s hard times. Staple foods like corn and cassava make up the first three stars in what the Ghana Health Service calls its “4-star diet,” a regimen developed to help curb the country’s malnutrition and hunger problems. Barbara started as a volunteer but quickly rose to become an executive member of the Community Development Committee.
Our Impact
Learn more about the impact of the CARE and Cargill partnership by clinking on the links below to find reports and inspiring stories of our work together.
Our commitment continues: Promoting a Sustainable and Food Secure World Program
CARE and Cargill are approaching the next chapter of this journey, with a new, $14 million three-year investment that seeks to drive deeper impact, facilitate stronger coordination across industry and institutional actors, double down on advocacy, leverage the power of technology and innovation, and ultimately scale efforts to support agricultural communities globally.
This expanded phase of the partnership will support 11 projects spanning ten countries: Benin, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Peru, Philippines, and Vietnam.
- In alignment with CARE’s, She Feeds the World framework and Right to Food, Water and Nutrition strategy, as well as Cargill’s business presence, the program will focus primarily in three areas:
- Enable women’s access to inclusive markets to unlock greater production, expand profits on small-scale agriculture, and ensure food security.
- Increase women’s access and agency to productive agricultural resources by improving access to information, land, water, inputs, information, technology, extension and climate services, and finance.
- Strengthen and expand strategic partnerships and advocacy to enable change at scale for women and the broader community.
This new global initiative is built on decades of evidence and learning, while rooted in community engagement and systems-strengthening approaches that foster programmatic sustainability. CARE and Cargill will incorporate innovative approaches such as Farmer Field and Business Schools, Community Based Adaption, Village and Savings Loans Associations (VSLAs), and Engaging Men and Boys to create deeper impact.
Through this new phase of the program CARE and Cargill aim to reach nearly 1.6 million people directly and indirectly – (96,738 women directly). However, our reach will go far beyond our program efforts. With increased investment in global, national, and local advocacy, influencing and scaling up approaches through partners, innovation, and digital approaches, our objective is to scale and multiply this impact further. Cargill will also bring unique expertise and technical support to programming, aiming at building resilient, successful agricultural communities.