As 2025 draws to a close, leading cocoa brands and suppliers face a decisive moment in shaping the future of sustainable supply chains. As many are shifting their strategy in light of upcoming regulations, supply and price volatility, Fairtrade calls on them to ensure their purchasing practices and programme investments put cooperatives at the front and centre. 

Strong, member-led co-operatives are crucial to drive sustainable, resilient livelihoods for cocoa farmers beyond the scope or duration of specific interventions, but they can only unlock their transformative potential if they’re backed by long-term partnerships with holistic interventions and sustained investments. 

As demands for greater traceability and transparency increase, co-operatives require sustained financial support to keep serving cocoa farmers effectively.

It’s been an exceptionally turbulent year for the cocoa industry, which saw historic highs peaking at $12,000 per metric tonne in late 2024, driven by climate-related shocks, global supply chain disruptions, and fluctuating consumer demand. Yet despite record prices, most West African cocoa farmers remain trapped below the poverty line, burdened by rising costs.

According to a new Fairtrade report, the path forward lies in the strength of co-operatives. The report, Building a Better World for Cocoa Farmers: How co-operatives drive change for cocoa farmers in West Africa: Evidence from 2024–25 draws on new data and evidence collected by Fairtrade through programme evaluations, independent studies, and other research projects.

The data highlights the transformative impact of strong co-operatives, organisations that support farmers to build resilience, secure financial benefits, and access essential services that enhance livelihoods and fortify communities. These co-operatives not only boost farmer incomes and lift more families out of poverty, but also play a vital role in advancing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

For instance, Fairtrade co-operatives have helped thousands of farmers move closer to earning a living income, while investing millions in education, healthcare, and infrastructure projects that benefit entire communities. In Côte d’Ivoire, the proportion of Fairtrade cocoa farmers projected to earn above a living income has more than tripled in two years, from 7% to 24%, with another 50% earning close to a living income[1].

When invested in, cooperatives can go much further to drive impact for their farmer members. The report highlights examples of cooperatives starting to move up the cocoa value chain including Ecookim exporting and negotiating directly with Mars and Ferrero or nine unions in Ghana joining forces to create their own License Buying Company. It also shares examples of cooperatives providing aggregation services and market access to their members for their income generating activities.

Beyond the services they offer, cooperatives are trusted partners who are at the heart of cocoa communities. Another recent Fairtrade study evaluating a pruning initiative funded by Ben & Jerry’s and implemented in partnership with Barry Callebaut found that one of the key motivating factors that encourage people to invest in pruning beyond subsidised services was the trust built through long ties with co-operatives: “Farmers with longer associations with the co-operative tend to exhibit greater trust in the recommendations provided to them. They are more willing to not only enhance their farming practices but also strengthen the overall effectiveness of the co-operative initiatives.”[2]

The ECOOKIM union, representing over 42,000 producers, has built schools, water towers, and solar canteens, and distributed more than 2.5 million seedlings to combat deforestation and improve soil fertility.

Aminata Bamba, Sustainability Manager, ECOOKIM, Côte d’Ivoire, said: “A well-organized and structured cooperative with good governance is more credible and has more commercial clout than an individual producer. By joining forces, our members improve their bargaining power, obtain better prices and premiums, and invest in their communities. Alone, we are vulnerable, but with others, we resist better.”

Fairtrade sees co-operatives not just as economic units but as powerful agents of change and ecological trailblazers, helping smallholder farmers become frontline defenders of forests and champion regenerative agriculture[3].

Rachel Wadham, Head of Evidence and Insights at the Fairtrade Foundation said: “The International Year of Cooperatives (2025) marks a pivotal moment for sector transformation. When cocoa farmers unite through co-operatives, they don’t just weather the storms, they build the future together, turning shared challenges intos hared strength. Investing in co-operatives as partners in responsible sourcing is essential to rebalance global trade and protect the future supply of our food.”

[1] Impact Institute, September 2025. Assessing Cocoa Farmer Income: The household income of cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire and strategies for improvement

[2] SATTVA, 2024.

[3] The study was conducted by KIT – Royal Tropical Institute, the Chain Collaborative, and Expressing Origin in the context of the EU’s regulation on deforestation-free products

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For more information, interviews or images: contact martine.parry@fairtrade.org.uk   |  Tel: 07886 301486.

Notes to Editors

Fairtrade works with 484,783  cocoa farmers by certifying 398 cocoa farming co-operatives in 21 countries which produce cocoa for brands such as Mars, Mondelez, Ben & Jerry’s and Ferrero as many high street retailers.

The organisation, which represents more than two million farmers and workers worldwide, also said that co-operatives help cocoa farmers withstand challenges such as volatile prices, declining production, climate change, and rising costs. They do this by providing services, negotiating better prices, supporting income diversification, and investing in community development.