Make Mine Fine

Most cocoa is grown in West Africa. In recent years, production in this region has expanded and currently accounts for over 70 percent of global supply. The nearly 2 million farms in the region are managed by families on individual landholdings of less than 5 acres. In these rural areas, there is limited infrastructure, social services, or regulatory oversight.

Since farming is a family business, children routinely help to clear land, maintain orchards, and harvest cocoa. This can involve hazardous work such as pesticide applications, machete use, and carrying heavy loads. Many children living on farms do not have access to or attend school. The overarching problem in the region is a marketing system that clearly benefits large companies and governments, while famers remain impoverished. Poverty and child labor are invariably interlinked.

Is there the political will to make this happen? Are there any significant changes to the cocoa marketing system that can result in better equity for farmers?

The Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA) and our 300 members represent companies dedicated to promoting and supporting fine chocolate. Although our footprint is small in comparison to the full chocolate industry, our company members are innovative and offer consumers quality and healthy chocolate. This website, Make Mine Fine Marketplace, lists over 80 of our company members who sell chocolate directly to consumers online. Learn about how these companies source cocoa and compensate farmers in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. We also encourage you to take a virtual journey to cocoa producing countries to learn the history, farming and marketing practices, and unique flavor profiles in each country. 

To reduce cocoa farmer poverty, cocoa farmers need to make more for their crop. Are you willing to pay more for quality chocolate, knowing that you are not only supporting artisan chocolate companies but also helping cocoa farmers and their families? 

Rainforests in Africa, Asia and Latin America are home to some of the most unique animal and plant life on earth. As many of us know, these fragile ecosystems are under severe threat from illegal logging, hunting and agriculture. Unless better environmental protection measures are followed, many flora and fauna species will be lost forever. 

The humid tropic regions are also the only places where cocoa grows.  

Cocoa farming can be either destructive or helpful to the environment, depending on how the crop is cultivated. When cocoa is grown in forest reserves as a monoculture, it can deplete soils and destroy habitats.

On the other hand, when grown responsibly, cocoa can provide a home to native plants and animals normally dependent upon tropical forest.  Russell Greenberg from the Smithsonian Migratory Birds Center writes that “this enhancement of biodiversity in the agricultural landscape occurs primarily on a local scale—providing homes and food for more generalized forest species that are intolerant of pastures or farm fields.”    

The Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA) and our members are committed to making the best quality chocolate available in the market. Our companies equally care about protecting the environment where cocoa grows.  Here are two great examples:

Madagascar: FCIA member Beyond Good was featured in a recent article explaining how they are working with local researchers at the Bristol Zoological Society in Madagascar to protect habitat for Lemurs. Dr. Amanda Webber of the Bristol Zoological Society highlighted the conclusions from their research. “The findings are exciting as they suggest that these highly threatened animals can live in human-dominated areas and cacao could be an example of a crop that, when grown sustainably, has the potential to benefit wildlife and people.”

Belize: FICA partner  BFREE Foundation in Belize is growing HCP designated criollo cocoa in a mixed agroforestry setting. BFREE Biological Field Station and Privately Protected Area is home to over 80 migratory and resident bird species including the Scarlet Macaw and Montezuma’s Oropendola. It is considered one of the most acclaimed birding sites in Belize.

The next time you purchase chocolate, take a moment to check where it was sourced. To order online fine chocolate from our member companies and learn more about the cocoa supply chain, please explore our Make Mine Fine website.

Climate change is impacting agricultural production around the world. Tropical crops such as cacao are particularly sensitive to even small changes in temperature and rainfall. In a recent article, Nick Hines at the Matador Network explains that the majority of cacao trees farms around the world are rainfed. As topical areas become dryer, there is a direct negative impact on cacao production, which in turn harms farmer livelihoods. Cocoa bean quality and flavor is also diminished.

What can be done to protect cocoa and the fragile environments where it grows?