Global Social Project for cocoa farmers in the Maï-Ndombe region (R.D.C.)

Abstract

The purpose of this Vlerick In-Company Project (ICP) is twofold: (1) define and calculate the living income and living income reference price for cocoa producers in the Maï Ndombe and Kongo Central Region in the Democratic Republic of Congo and (2) monitor the current situation regarding child labour and set up a sensitizing campaign against it. Firstly, a literature review discusses the global cocoa industry and the concepts of ‘living income’ and ‘child labour’. The global cocoa industry is expected to grow at CAGR 7.3% until 2025 and to benefit from this growing industry, farmers in the Maï Ndombe Region in the Democratic Republic of Congo are increasingly focusing on growing cocoa trees. The global cocoa supply involves at least nine distinct phases and a key issue is that the margins are not equally distributed: generally, the farmers earn only 3-6% of the final retail value, whereas the supermarkets and chocolate multinationals each obtain 35-40% of the final retail value. The literature review goes on by addressing certified chocolate, a segment that is expected to grow faster than the non-certified segment and discussing risks that could hinder the industry growth. Further, the ‘living income’ concept is discussed. It is defined and also the widely used Anker calculation methodology is illustrated. It consists of four parameters: (1) the cost of a decent life, (2) the cost of sustainable production, (3) the size of a viable farm and (4) sustainable yield. The last concept that appears in this study is ‘child labour’. Though child labour is still very widespread, it is found that the international community becomes increasingly aware of it. Further, different levels on which action can be taken to prevent it and the methodology of the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) are discussed. This methodology consists of seven chronological steps. Secondly, the focus is on project deliverables. A survey to collect the information needed to calculate the living income and its reference price was developed, as well as a survey to collect information regarding child labour. Also, a campaign to tackle child labour was worked out. When receiving the first filled in surveys via email, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this project became very concrete: as the surveys could not be conducted in person, often wrongly filled or incomplete surveys were returned by the contact persons in the DRC. Also, it seriously hindered the representativeness of the research as the required sample of 383 surveys was not met. Regarding the living income survey, the data was of poor quality and therefore did not allow to calculate the living income. Next to poor quality data, local information to benchmark the living income parameters e.g. the market price of a bunch of carrots in a specific community was lacking. Based on the glitches from the initial living income survey, the survey is improved, and this is the first deliverable. The second deliverable of calculating the living income was unfortunately not met due to the above-raised reasons. From the nonrepresentative sample of 85 families, it was found that 45% of their revenue comes from cocoa production. Also, the average revenue between 2017 and 2019 has increased at a rate of 31.8%. For parameter 1 it is found that the average cost of life is 1,015,153.01 CDF. For parameter 2 the data was of very poor quality and thus not reflects reality as it is calculated that the sustainable yield would be more than 1400 kg of cocoa per ha. For parameter 3 it is found that the average farm size of a cocoa farmer is 10.45 ha and of that 15% is dedicated for cocoa on average. For parameter 4 it is found that the average annual cost of production is 462,300.94 CDF. The child labour survey data is of better quality and allowed to develop an Excel file that monitors the child labour situation in families under the cocoa cooperatives. Based on several factors, it automatically prompts a risk profile for each cocoa-producing family and, moreover, also offers analysis on a global level. This survey and its monitoring system consist of the third deliverable. This Excel monitoring system revealed that for the nonrepresentative sample of 96 useful respondents (farmers with children under 18), 60% of families have a low-risk child labour profile, 13% have a moderate risk profile and 27% have a high-risk profile. The child labour campaign is the fourth deliverable. This consists of an interactive ‘lecture’ with pictures and a complementary instructions manual on how to perform that lecture. Also, a video is recorded to offer an example of how the lecture can be delivered to the farmers. The lecture discusses the child, child labour, its dangers and light work.