The Sustainable Cocoa Initiative Mars Chocolate launched in 2009 operates under the principle of putting farmers first. By helping farmers become more productive through better research, training, and a strong certification protocol, Mars Chocolate believes the company is also aiding them and their families improve their quality of life.
Within the Vision for Change programme, Mars Chocolate has been listening to the concerns of women and working with women leaders in their communities to help develop community development plans.
Mars Chocolate is also working in a targeted way on the economic empowerment of women, which Mars believes will benefit women in cocoa communities specifically and farmers as a whole.
To achieve those goals of strengthening programmes within the sector to empower women in cocoa communities, Mars Chocolate is committing to completing a comprehensive assessment of the condition of women cocoa farmers in its Vision for Change (V4C) programme – which provides cocoa farmers with training in updated agricultural methods and is a key element in the company’s Sustainable Cocoa Initiative – in Côte d’Ivoire by the end of this year.
Mars Chocolate will also sign the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles before 1 May. By 1 April, 2014, Mars Chocolate will develop and publish a plan of action based on the assessment to ensure the Vision for Change programme adequately addresses gender equity.
Through 2014, Mars Chocolate will help develop the foundation for a sector-wide assessment of gender equity by examining existing third party data on gender in the global cocoa sector and by using this review to identify knowledge gaps.
Source: Mars
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