Mars and Save the Children’s women cocoa farmers project: overview
- Mars and Save the Children have launched a $3m women-focused project
- Women R.I.S.E aims to strengthen Indonesia’s cocoa-growing communities resilience
- More than 17,000 cocoa farmers will participate over three years
- The initiative promotes financial inclusion, leadership and climate-smart farming
- Supporting women helps improve livelihoods, productivity and cocoa sustainability
Mars, Inc. has partnered with Save the Children to launch the Women R.I.S.E. (Resilient & Inclusive Systems for Empowerment) Program.
The three-year initiative aims to strengthen the resilience of cocoa-growing communities while advancing child protection and women’s economic empowerment across Indonesia.
Supported through a $3m (€2.6m) grant from the Mars Impact Fund, the Program will expand Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) and strengthen community resilience initiatives in cocoa-growing regions. The effort aims to address key challenges facing rural communities, including fluctuating agricultural productivity, limited access to financial services and the need for stronger local capacity to plan for and manage development.
The work, says the multinational, supports the Mars Impact Fund mission to “accelerate meaningful, lasting impact in the communities where Mars operates”.
Empowering cocoa communities
Over the next three years, the project will directly engage more than 17,000 cocoa farmers across Indonesia, with a goal of 60% female participation.
It will also support leadership development, collective decision-making, income diversification, climate-smart agricultural practices and stronger village governance, helping communities build long-term resilience while protecting children and improving livelihoods.
“True community resilience is built from the ground up,” says program director of the Mars Impact Fund, Isabel Dimitrov. “The Mars Impact Fund is proud to invest in tools that help cocoa-growing families diversify their income, protect their children, and build a more secure, equitable future.”
The investment comes at a time when the cocoa sector is facing mounting challenges, including climate change, ageing farming populations, low household incomes and increasing pressure from regulators and consumers to demonstrate sustainable sourcing practices. As cocoa-growing regions experience more frequent weather shocks and volatile yields, manufacturers are placing greater emphasis on building resilient farming communities capable of adapting to changing conditions.
Women’s role in cocoa
Women are increasingly viewed as critical to the future sustainability of the cocoa supply chain.
Despite playing a significant role in cocoa production and household income generation, women in many producing regions continue to face barriers to land ownership, financial services, training opportunities and participation in community decision-making. Industry stakeholders argue that improving women’s access to resources and leadership opportunities can strengthen household incomes, increase farm productivity and improve outcomes for children.
Research across agricultural value chains has consistently shown that when women have greater control over financial resources, families are more likely to invest in nutrition, healthcare and education. For cocoa companies, initiatives that support women’s economic empowerment are therefore increasingly seen not only as social investments, but also as a way to help create more resilient and commercially sustainable cocoa-growing communities.
By combining financial inclusion, leadership development and climate-smart farming practices, the Women R.I.S.E. Program reflects a growing shift within the cocoa industry towards community-based development models that seek to address the root causes of poverty and vulnerability rather than focusing solely on agricultural productivity.
“We are fully committed to supporting the creation of cocoa farming communities that possess independent economic resilience, strong social cohesion and climate readiness,” says community development specialist for Mars, Mutmainnah. “This collaboration is designed to strengthen local governance and build integrated partnerships that help establish sustainable, self-reliant village models for future generations.”
