Fairtrade’s living income cocoa programme
Grow Further: For companies seeking to go beyond certification and commit to stable incomes, resilient supply chains and long-term impact.
Global supply chains are under increasing pressure due to climate change, ecological limits, social instability and regulatory requirements, while many farming regions are on structurally low incomes.
When farming households can barely make ends meet, they lack the scope for investment—for example, in better farming practices, climate-resilient systems, education, or long-term planning. Income poverty therefore is not an isolated issue, but a systemic problem.
This is where living income steps in: it defines a level of income that covers basic living costs and also enables economic stability. For companies, this means that living incomes are not an optional benefit, but a human right and an essential requirement for resilient and reliable supply chains.
Fairtrade’s approach to living income
Why living income matters for business
Insufficient incomes have a direct impact on the reliability, sustainability, and long-term viability of supply chains.
Adaptation to climate change
Without sufficient scope for investment, measures to adapt to climate change will not be implemented. Resilient farming systems will only emerge if farms have the economic capacity to act.
Preservation of natural resources
Income pressure increases the pressure on natural resources. Sustainable environmental and biodiversity protection requires economic prospects.
Industry preservation
Low incomes limit opportunities for education, health, and development for families. Structural improvements require economic stability. This also gives young people the prospect of a future in agriculture and strengthens the next generation.
Fairtrade: pioneer in the field of living income
Fairtrade was the first certification system worldwide to introduce binding minimum prices and systematically involve producers in governance processes. Fairtrade also calculates and publishes Living Income Reference Prices (LIRP) and transparently links pricing to cost of living data.
While many stakeholders talk about living income as a goal, Fairtrade has specific tools to make it happen and has been running pilot projects for years.
Fairtrade standards at the core
- The Fairtrade minimum price protects against market volatility.
- The Fairtrade premium enables collective investment.
- Clear monitoring mechanisms ensure compliance with standards.
These elements create stability – but do not automatically guarantee a living income. That is why Fairtrade complements existing standards with additional instruments and programme-based approaches.
Living Income Reference Prices (LIRP)
Living Income Reference Prices are benchmarks. They show the price required for a typical farming household to earn a living income under regional conditions.
The calculation takes into account:
- regional cost of living
- household size
- sustainable yields
- available cultivation area
Discover Fairtrade reference prices: https://reference-prices.fairtrade.net/de
FAQ on methodology and application: https://reference-prices.fairtrade.net/faq
From guidance to implementation
Reference prices alone do not necessarily lead to a living income. Coordination between the following factors is crucial:
- pricing
- productivity
- diversification
- climate resilience
- strengthening cooperatives
- long-term partnerships
Fairtrade's structured programmes combine all these elements within an integrated framework.
Grow Further
Living income for the cocoa sector: Fairtrade’s structured programme
“Grow Further” is Fairtrade's programmatic approach for cocoa from West Africa, aimed at companies that want to go beyond certification and make a meaningful contribution to living incomes in the cocoa sector.
Why cocoa?
West Africa produces around two-thirds of the world's cocoa. At the same time, many cocoa farmers in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire face systemic challenges.
Some of which are:
- small farm sizes
- fluctuating world market prices
- climate risks
- limited scope of investment
Even high world market prices do not necessarily lead to stable incomes that provide a decent standard of living. That is why Fairtrade takes a structured, multi-stage approach to cocoa trade.
Grow Further: the impact
Living incomes are not created by a single lever. They are the result of the synergy between shared responsibility, standards, pricing, investment and partnerships with cooperatives.
Grow Further impact logic – the tree
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The roots – the foundation
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The trunk – provides strength and distributes resources
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The branches – growth in multiple directions
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The fruits – living incomes and sustainable impact
Why invest in better incomes?
In the cocoa sector, income gaps are a structural issue, short-term price boosts alone aren't enough.
Grow Further merges:
- standards
- reference prices
- targeted investment
- direct collaboration with cooperatives
- into a consistent programme framework.
Lidl leads the way: First Grow Further partner from Germany
With Lidl, Grow Further has gained its first programme partner in Germany. The discounter is the first partner to participate in Fairtrade's Living Income Programme in Germany, demonstrating how companies can make a concrete contribution to closing the income gap beyond certification. The plan is to convert the entire range of bar chocolate to the Living Income Programme.
Join the pioneers
Grow Further is currently available for the cocoa sector. Companies that trade in cocoa or process cocoa can participate in the programme.
Get started with living income and Grow Further now
Future-proof your supply chains with Fairtrade's structured living income approach. Find out more about Grow Further and discuss with us how you can get started in the cocoa sector.
Regulatory relevance (EU context)
Living income prices and the Anker methodology
New tool provides reference prices for living incomes
