Comparative study on the distribution of value in European chocolate chains
The low level of income of most small cocoa farmers, especially in Western Africa, has been a growing issue in the cocoa sector for the past three decades, furthermore, ensuring a living income for small cocoa farmers has become a pressing issue across producing countries.
This has gained even more publicity as both the Ivorian and the Ghanaian public authorities have decided, in consultation with the industry, to set a fixed “living income differential” (LID) of USD 400 per tonne on all cocoa contracts sold by either country for the 2020/21 season; funds raised through this LID will be used to help increase payments to farmers.
This has triggered critical questions such as:
• What would be the additional costs along the chain?
• What would be the impact on the profitability of business actors?
• What are possible scenarios to distribute additional costs among actors of the cocoa chains?
To date, there have been no in-depth studies on the distribution of value and costs along
cocoa/chocolate chains, which is nonetheless indispensable information to facilitate an informed collective debate on the above-mentioned questions with all stakeholders of the sector and based on objectified data and information.
Area of focus: Cocoa
Organisation/institution: BASIC