Educating cocoa communities
The Jacobs Foundation, in partnership with the cocoa industry strategy CocoaAction, co-ordinated by the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), has launched TRECC (Transforming Education in Cocoa Communities). The seven-year Commitment to Action is intended to enhance education, empower women and help protect children in Ivory Coast’s cocoa-growing communities. TRECC will work alongside CocoaAction to accelerate sustainability by reaching cocoa farmers with much needed productivity and community development support.
TRECC will aim to transform education in Ivory Coast through efforts focused on six interlinked action areas, including research, capacity building, matching grants, impact investing, engagement with other donors and policy strengthening. According to the Education Policy and Data Centre, 62 per cent of those aged 15-24 have not completed primary school in the West African nation.
“The World Cocoa Foundation is delighted to collaborate with the Jacobs Foundation through CocoaAction to directly benefit the education of 200,000 children in cocoa growing communities in Ivory Coast,” says Barry Parkin, chairman, World Cocoa Foundation, and chief sustainability officer and health & wellness officer, Mars, Incorporated.
WCF’s CocoaAction strategy, launched in May 2014, brings the world’s leading cocoa and chocolate companies together to accelerate sustainability and improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers. CocoaAction develops meaningful partnerships between governments, cocoa farmers, and the cocoa industry to boost productivity and strengthen community development in Ivory Coast and Ghana – the leading cocoa producing countries in the world. CocoaAction intends to train and deliver improved planting material and fertiliser to 300,000 cocoa farmers and empower communities through education, child labour monitoring, and women’s empowerment. CocoaAction is measured against adherence to six key performance indicators, and the industry’s progress is publically reported on a regular basis.
“Our experience has taught us that education for a country’s poorest can only be successful if the necessary conditions are in place within the family, at work and in society. It is also important to note that sustainable development cannot be achieved without education. We have therefore decided to take our activities in Africa to the next level with the TRECC programme, in an effort to promote sustainable social and economic change in the region,” explains Lavinia Jacobs, chair of the Jacobs Foundation.
