Colruyt Group – Living income for cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire
Client
Colruyt Group is a Belgian retail company operating in three countries and consisting of more than 40 brands. The company places great emphasis on sustainability and impact, which it actively advocates and implements throughout its value chains. Among these is one of their value chains which starts at cocoa farms in Cote D’Ivoire.
Together with other organisations active in and around the cocoa value chain, Colruyt Group implemented a programme to increase and diversify cocoa farmers’ income. The client commissioned Impact Institute to carry out two projects. The first project evaluated the benefit of the programme on farmer income. In the second project, the financial and practical scalability of the programme were examined.
Project description
The projects took place within the frame of the Beyond Chocolate programme, an initiative that brings together Belgian chocolate companies, retailers, civil society and research institutions to promote sustainable chocolate, support farmer livelihoods, and tackle deforestation.
In the first project, Impact Institute conducted a living income analysis, comparing actual household income to the local living income model (calculated based on data from 102 farming households).
As part of the living income analysis, six drivers of farmer income were analysed in detail. Among these were farm productivity, cocoa quality, income diversification, access to finance, agroforestry and reforestation, and price. Impact Institute further identified farm size as a key driver of farmer income. The driver analysis showed that price contributed to greatly increasing farmer household income.
The second project aimed to assess whether the programme initiated by Colruyt Group and its value chain partners, illustrates a scalable business case. Based on stakeholder interviews – Impact Institute researched the risks and benefits of the programme.
The output of both projects supported Colruyt Group with improving and upscaling the programme.
Benefits to the client
In this project, Impact Institute supported Colruyt Group and their value chain partners by objectively establishing that their programme led to a significant increase in farmer income and by shedding light on how to build a strong long-term business case for this programme.
Impact Institute’s data-based conclusions regarding the programme’s positive impact, upscaling potential and key focus areas supported Colruyt Group in extending and upscaling the programme in an informed and strategic manner. By doing so, Colruyt Group and its value chain partners can significantly improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers and positively contribute to the Impact Economy.
