Farmers on the ground cannot afford to ride out the swings of a volatile cocoa market.
The Rainforest Alliance is calling on chocolate manufacturers, traders, and retailers to look beyond short-term market prices and help ensure greater income stability for cocoa farming families as cocoa prices remain volatile, threatening to undo years of hard-won progress across West Africa and beyond.
“Sustainability cannot be a fair-weather commitment. When prices fall, it is the farmer who absorbs the shock first and most severely. A more resilient cocoa sector depends on business models that continue to support farmer livelihoods when market conditions become most difficult for the people at the base of the supply chain,” says Santiago Gowland, CEO of the Rainforest Alliance”
The Rainforest Alliance works with almost one million cocoa farmers globally, the majority of whom are in West Africa. For these families, cocoa is not just a commodity, it is their primary livelihood. Falling prices can translate directly into skipped meals, missed school, and reduced investment in the sustainable agricultural practices that underpin the long-term viability of the entire supply chain.
The Rainforest Alliance urges commercial partners to move beyond spot-market pricing logic and toward long-term purchasing agreements that provide farmers with the income stability they need to invest in their farms, their families, and resilient agricultural practices.
“When I visit farming communities here in Côte d’Ivoire, I see farmers doing more and more things right: adopting good agricultural practices, investing in their land, and working to secure a better future for their families. A sharp drop in cocoa prices does not just threaten household income. It puts the resilience of the entire cocoa supply chain at risk. We need a system that works for farming families as well not only when market conditions are favorable, but also when they are most difficult,” says Nanga Kone, Country Manager for Côte d’Ivoire at the Rainforest Alliance.
The Rainforest Alliance also calls on sourcing companies and market partners to maintain and expand investment in farmer technical assistance, training, and access to inputs. It remains committed to working with supply chain partners to build a cocoa sector that is economically viable for farmers, environmentally sustainable, and resilient to market volatility. The cocoa supply chain is only as resilient as the farmers at its base. When prices fall below what makes farming viable, the consequences travel throughout the supply chain and can take years to reverse. Governments and businesses alike must treat farmer livelihoods as the foundation of a sustainable cocoa future.
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