Good Purchasing Practices in Cocoa, a Barometer Consultation Paper
Many of the holistic interventions necessary in cocoa are long-term processes that will lead to change over time. However, (extreme) poverty is a daily reality for the vast majority of cocoa farmers. They cannot afford to wait until long-term processes – such as diversified income, higher productivity, or a better rural infrastructure – have come to pass. Many good purchasing practices do not require collective sector-wide action, nor do they require a long development process; they can be implemented on a relatively short term, by individual corporate actors.
It’s not rocket science; if companies care about the poverty of cocoa farmers, they should pay farmers more. Besides fair pricing, the risk cocoa farming households face must be shared more equitably.
Concretely, companies must introduce the practice of paying living income reference prices at farm gate level, i.e. paying farm gate prices that would enable median farmer households to earn a living income from the sales of their crop. Similarly, companies must also provide farmers with long-term asymmetrical contracts (providing farmers more rights, while putting more responsibilities on the shoulders of the purchasing companies) and be transparent and accountable about their purchasing practices.
Area of focus: Cocoa
Author(s): Antonie Fountain
Organisation/institution: VOICE