We’re excited to share that the Cocoa Income Inventory (CII), developed by IDH, VOICE, and Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is officially live! This new platform offers a structured, anonymized space where cocoa sector data can be shared in an accessible and transparent manner. The CII is designed to support stakeholders across the industry by providing validated, aggregated data to help drive informed decision-making and foster sector-wide improvements.
Why the CII Matters:
- Standardized and Accessible Data: For years, essential cocoa farming data has been collected but not always shared transparently. The CII provides a common platform where stakeholders — including companies, NGOs, policymakers, farmers, and researchers — can access aggregated, anonymized data without compromising commercial interests. By standardizing data collection, it ensures insights are comparable and reliable.
- Fostering Collaboration and Efficiency: One of the challenges in the cocoa sector is duplicated efforts in research and intervention design. The CII helps address this by promoting collaboration and reducing redundancy. Organizations can now leverage shared data, learn from each other’s successes and failures, and apply insights more effectively, resulting in more impactful strategies and better use of resources.
- Supporting Sector-Wide Improvements: The CII works in synergy with the Cocoa Household Income Study (CHIS), a rigorous methodology for collecting standardized income data across cocoa farming households. While CHIS provides the framework for data collection, the CII ensures that this data is shared in a harmonized and publicly accessible way. This alignment will help stakeholders make more informed decisions and implement interventions that drive sector-wide improvements in living incomes and sustainability.
- A New Benchmark for Data Sharing: As more organizations contribute their data, the CII will evolve into a key benchmark for best practices in data-sharing and transparency in the cocoa sector. By adhering to standardized practices and ensuring anonymity, the platform provides a robust resource for stakeholders to assess the effectiveness of various interventions and policies.
What’s Next?
- The CII will continue to grow as more data is shared and integrated from different regions and seasons. We aim to regularly update the platform, ensuring it remains relevant and valuable for ongoing decision-making.
- Through collaboration with key industry events and sessions, we will further discuss insights from the data, ensuring its full potential is realized and applied effectively in shaping the future of the cocoa sector.
Check out the inventory here (best viewed on desktop) and feel free to reach out to us with feedback or if you’d like more details. Also, please do reach out if you have a dataset you’d like to share. Your input is invaluable as we continue to improve and expand this resource.
By creating a space for transparent, evidence-based insights, the CII aims to help the cocoa sector reach new heights of sustainability and social impact. As more organizations join the platform, we look forward to driving meaningful change in the industry.