OUR COCOA
All the cocoa we buy for Nutella comes from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
Cocoa farmers face several economic and social issues, and this is why Ferrero made a commitment in 2011 to responsibly source 100% certified cocoa beans by 2020 to help improve their living conditions and foster sustainable practices. By sourcing cocoa from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms we help improve the livelihoods of farmers and their families and conserve natural resources and biodiversity (discover more: www.ra.org). Certified farms have to follow strict criteria to help ensure environmental, social and economic sustainability. Certification and traceability are the starting point of Ferrero's sustainability approach, but we also go beyond certification to increase our impact on the ground.
Supporting farmers
The vast majority of the world’s cocoa is produced by smallholder farmers, most of whom live in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana where we mainly source our cocoa. These two countries together account for more than 60% of the world’s cocoa production. Those farmers encounter the complexities of economic, social and environmental issues, such as lack of access to resources, limited knowledge of good agricultural practices and climate change.
Through the implementation of the Ferrero Farming Values Cocoa Programme, we are committed to supporting them in adopting sustainable agricultural practices aimed at increasing cocoa productivity and income diversification. This in turn will contribute to improve their livelihoods and that of their communities. We are also moving to a more personalised support for farmers through individual Farm Development Plans to increase positive change.
Knowledge is empowerment
And we strongly believe in it. That’s why at our Farmer Field Schools, we provide trainings to farmers in good agricultural, social and environmental practices. We enable farmers to put this knowledge into action by providing access to seedlings, fertilisers and access to finance, in order to improve not only their crops but also their lives. Between September 2018 and August 2019, we trained over 90,000 farmers and distributed 1.6 million cocoa seedlings.
Farmers' voices
“Before, I produced 450 Kilograms of cocoa per year. Now, since I started applying good agricultural practices and my field is well kept, I grow more. With the knowledge that I have now, I have more than doubled my harvest, which gives me over 300,000 CFA francs more this year.”
says Momboye Célestin, one of many cocoa farmers who have participated in farmer trainings organized by Ferrero’s partner ECOOKIM.
ECOOKIM is a union representing 22,500 cocoa farmers in Cote D’Ivoire. Between September 2018 and August 2019, we sourced cocoa beans from nine of its cooperatives and over 12,500 farmers were trained in our Farmer Field Schools. Thanks to these efforts, these farmers have seen a significant increase in cocoa yields and income.
Protecting children's rights
Ferrero is committed to promote the human rights of children. For the children in our cocoa supply-chain this means taking action to tackle child labour and improve access to education and basic needs such as water, sanitation and good nutrition. We are sensitizing farmers on the rights of children and we are implementing systems designed to identify and remediate cases of child labour, also called CLMRS (Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System). Remediation can vary from individualized support to children and parents to broader child-centered community development programs that aim to implement mechanisms to protect children, strengthen the educational infrastructure and promote women empowerment.
We also actively support initiatives that have a broader scope than our direct supply-chain. For example, since 2008 we are members of the International Cocoa Initiative, a multi-stakeholder platform that aims to ensure a better future for children and to advance the elimination of child labour.
Going forward
Ferrero made a strong commitment in 2011 to responsibly source 100% certified cocoa beans by 2020 and over the years also started implementing various measures beyond certification. In addition to that we are founding members of an important collective engagement:
- Cocoa & Forests Initiative (2017) that aims to end deforestation and promote sustainable cocoa production.
This initiative is coordinated by the World Cocoa Foundation of which we are members since 2005.
To state our ambition for a cocoa industry that is good for people and nature, and our dedication to make this ambition a reality through responsible cocoa sourcing, we created our Cocoa Charter. The Charter outlines our long-term commitments and our Action Plan sets out how we will work towards achieving them.
Our ever-growing support to agroforestry
We encourage cocoa farmers to diversify their farms by mixing cocoa trees with fruits, vegetables and timber trees to provide shade for young cocoa trees, food for household consumption or to sell on the local market. Such systems have a significant contribution to environmental protection and biodiversity.
Between September 2018 and August 2019, Ferrero contributed to the development of more than 15,000 ha. of cocoa agroforestry and by 2022, we aim to plant 2.9 million trees as part of agroforestry projects that we support.
Did you know?
Agroforesty is a dynamic and ecological resource management system that, through the integration of trees on farms, diversifies and sustains production leading to increased social, economic and environmental benefits. Agroforestry is essential to smallholder farmers because it can allow them to improve their food supply, income and health. Agroforestry also helps to combat climate change.
Strengthening our sustainability program
Moving forward, we will continue working to strengthen our cocoa sustainability program with a positive and lasting impact on the cocoa value-chain. We will do this along three pillars that are closely connected and reinforce each other:
1. Improve the livelihoods of farmers and communities
2. Protect children’s rights
3. Safeguard the natural capital
An important cornerstone of the program is to have full traceability back to the farmers that supply the cocoa that goes inside Nutella®.
