"Cocoa farmers' children are facing challenges in access to education."
Your chocolate purchase can make a difference! We have been told that when we buy things, we are voting with our money. But we sometimes have no idea the impact we can have!
In this world of consumerism and access to everything, we very seldom take a moment to look at where our purchases started, the people that are affected, and the environmental damage we can cause by the purchase of something as innocent as a chocolate bar!
But we have a massive effect! I recently got to chat to Yaa Peprah Amekudzi from Ghana. Yaa is the head of a programme called "Cocoa Life", which helps the chocolate industry in sustainability and more from a grass roots level! They have seven focus areas: child protection, community, environment, farming, livelihoods, women empowerment, and youth development.
Starting with 100 communities in seven districts, Yaa has expanded Cocoa Life to cover 450 communities in 17 districts within a period of 10 years, directly impacting 38,421 cocoa farmers and 415,464 community members of which 224,301 are young persons. Yaa is changing the lives of the people and families that make sure we get our chocolate fix!
If you want to know just how big an impact your purchase makes, you can listen to Yaa explain here:
You can find out more about the programme and about Cocoa Life through their website - cocoalife.org.