Closing the living income gap: ALDI is proud to support cocoa farmers in Ghana

The ALDI SOUTH Group has joined forces with the chocolate producer Barry Callebaut and the Cocoa Horizons Foundation to support Ghanaian cocoa farmers to generate alternative income sources to cocoa. The two-year project is co-funded by the Belgian initiative ‘Beyond Chocolate’, which is funded by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and coordinated by IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative.

The project is intended to support achieving the living income target of ‘Beyond Chocolate’. The following activities are included in the project:

• Approximately 80 households will benefit from the rejuvenation of 40 hectares of old cocoa farms.
• 77 ‘Village Saving and Loans Associations (VSLAs)’ will be formed empowering women and young people to invest in enterprises and households.
• Approximately 1,000 farmers will be provided with official land titles to secure ownership and allow long-term investments on farms.
• Between 400 - 500 households will be supported in setting up alternative income sources via poultry farming and energy efficient cook stoves.

The project will be implemented by the Cocoa Horizons Foundation, an independent, non-profit and transparent organization with the vision to drive cocoa farmer prosperity by creating self-sustaining communities that protect nature and children. ALDI will source the Horizons cocoa beans from Barry Callebaut and use them in a chocolate product that can be enjoyed by ALDI customers.

ALDI is committed to improving living and working conditions in the West African cocoa sector. We are determined to generate impact on the ground and believe that the greatest impact in the cocoa sector can be achieved through collaboration. We look forward to working together with Barry Callebaut and the Cocoa Horizons Foundation on this exciting project.

“At Barry Callebaut, we are creating a movement to make sustainable chocolate the norm. Therefore, we are really excited to join forces with ALDI and the Cocoa Horizons Foundation to test different income generating activities with the ultimate goal to increase the living income of cocoa farming households in Ghana. The learnings of this joint programme will be shared through the Beyond Chocolate platform and will help shape the roadmap towards a long term, sustained living income for cocoa farmers in Ghana.”

- Anke Massart - EMEA Sustainability Director FM.