Hershey expands cocoa community programme in West Africa

US-based chocolate manufacturer Hershey plans to invest $10m over the next five years in programmes to educate cocoa farmers on modern farming techniques and lower child labour, as a part of its long-term cocoa sustainability programme in the region.

Working with experts in agriculture, community development and local governments, the company claims that its programme will directly benefit 750,000 African cocoa farmers and over two million people from cocoa communities across the region by 2017.

Hershey president and CEO JP Bilbrey said: ‘Hershey is extending our commitment with new programmes to drive long-term change in cocoa villages where families will benefit from the company’s investments in education, health and economic opportunities.’

‘Our global consumers want the Hershey Company to be a leader in responsible business practices and in finding smart ways to benefit cocoa communities,’ Bilbrey added.

Hershey will partner with the Rainforest Alliance, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), to train cocoa farmers on best farming practices and to help them adapt to climate change.

Later this year, the company will source cocoa from Rainforest Alliance-certified farms, which have met comprehensive sustainability standards, in Latin America and Africa for its premium brand Dagoba and Hershey’s Bliss.

The company also plans to expand the CocoaLink mobile phone project to the Ivory Coast, which has about 600,000 cocoa farmers. Industry data suggests that around half of them are already using mobile phones.

The CocoaLink project, which was launched last year in Ghana, involves sending text and voice messages to cocoa farmers to help them improve farming practices, understand problems related to pests and adverse weather conditions and improve labour practices. It also provides a platform for farmers to pose questions to cocoa experts in real time.

Under the next phase of CocoaLink, Hershey plans to work with the Rainforest Alliance to reach 100,000 Ghana cocoa farmers by 2014 and to begin sending important messages about conservation and climate change.

In addition, Hershey and Source Trust, a non-profit organisation, have launched a new initiative called ‘Hershey Learn to Grow’, which will establish 25 community-based farmer organisations.

Through the organisations, Hershey plans to improve the living standards of 1,250 cocoa farm families through good agricultural, environmental, social and business practices training, improve access to improved planting material, and finance for farm inputs with the goal to double productivity yield and farm income over four years.

Hershey and Source Trust will also assist the Government of Ghana to meet the goals of Ghana’s 2009-2015 National Plan of Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor (WFCL) and bring high-tech learning to rural farm villages.