Nestlé has announced that its income accelerator program, developed to improve income and household conditions among cocoa-farming families in Côte d’Ivoire, is delivering ‘measurable improvements’.
The food giant made the announcement following an independent evaluation by the KIT Institute, which assessed progress made on the program during 2024.
Higher cocoa yields
Nestlé noted that despite poor harvests caused by adverse weather during the 2023/2024 season, farmers that participated in the program achieved 18% higher cocoa yields than non-participants, resulting in a 15% increase in household net income and a 21% rise in net cocoa profit.
Cocoa farms participating in the program are also ‘healthier’, Nestlé said, largely due to the adoption of good agricultural practices such as pruning, weeding, pest control, shade management, and composting.
Nestlé has scaled its income accelerator program on several occasions – starting with 1,000 families in a 2020 pilot, it reached 10,000 in 2022, when the program was launched, before reaching 30,000 in 2024.
The company aims to engage 50,000 families by 2026, before scaling up to as many as 160,000 cocoa-farming households by 2030.
‘Key sustainability initiative’
“Our income accelerator program is one of our key sustainability initiatives,” commented Laurent Freixe, CEO of Nestlé. “And we are committed to expanding it further in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, our main cocoa origins. We welcome the interest of governments and other industry players in our approach. Together, we will be able to scale up our work for impact.”
Along with food security, the program has also enhanced female empowerment (18% higher), while children’s well-being improved by 31% and school enrolment increased from 81% in 2022 to 88% in 2024.
“Since launching the Income Accelerator Program pilot in 2020, we have continuously refined our approach based on feedback from farming families and independent evaluations,” added Darrell High, Nestlé cocoa manager. “This report confirms that even in a challenging year, the program is making a real difference, which is very encouraging.” Read more here.
