Cocoa producer agency and the living income differential: lessons from civil society organisations
On Wednesday, 2 June a webinar discussed the challenges and impacts of the lack of producer voice and agency in the design and implementation of the Living Income Differential (LID). It also explored the ways producer organisations and companies are considering to more meaningfully promote producer voice and agency in cocoa price setting and how to improve the livelihoods of producers.
An initiative led by IIED is generating lessons on how rural producers, their associations and wider communities can best empower themselves to articulate their development priorities, make informed choices and negotiate effectively for equitable partnerships with progressive private sector actors in commercial agriculture.
Most cocoa farmers live in extreme poverty. In Ghana, for example, it is estimated that the average income gap is about 50% of the living income benchmark. Producers are also highly reliant on cocoa: cocoa production contributes to about two-thirds of cocoa farmers’ income.
With their dominance as global cocoa producers, Ghana and the Cote d'Ivoire's new Living Income Differential (LID) is a bold new move by both governments to make a fundamental change to the structure of global markets to try to ensure rural producers receive a living income. This has happened against a backdrop of ongoing debates on how to achieve living incomes for producers more generally.