Nine major cocoa and chocolate companies have committed $8.5m to an initiative aiming to prove a business case to improve the quality of education in Ivorian cocoa communities.
Mondelēz International, Mars, Nestlé and Barry Callebaut have joined forces on a community development and education program in Côte d’Ivoire in partnership with the Jacobs Foundation.
The industry-backed platform CocoaAction has partnered with the Jacob’s Foundation for a $52m education program for cocoa growing communities in Côte d’Ivoire, where the majority of young people fail to complete primary school.
Barry Callebaut has collaborated with Hershey to build a primary school in a western cocoa-growing region of Côte d’Ivoire – a move that should ensure children stay off the farms, Barry Callebaut says.