Nestlé has announced a plan to increase farmer income through cash incentives in an effort to combat child labour.
The income accelerator program, which aims to improve the livelihoods of farmers and families involved in cocoa production, will see cash incentives paid directly to cocoa-farming households for activities such as enrolment of children in school.
Mark Schneider, Nestlé CEO, said the company’s goal is to have an additional tangible, positive impact on a growing number of cocoa-farming families, especially in areas where poverty is widespread and resources are scarce, and to help close the living income gap they face over time.
“Building on our longstanding efforts to source cocoa sustainably, we will continue to help children go to school, empower women, improve farming methods and facilitate financial resources. We believe that, together with governments, NGOs and others in the cocoa industry, we can help improve the lives of cocoa-farming families and give children the chance to learn and grow in the safe and healthy environment they deserve.”
Included in the income accelerator program are incentives that encourage behaviours and agricultural practices that are designed to build social and economic resilience over time.
Amongst the practices that Nestle are incentivising are performing agroforestry activities to increase climate resilience, implementing good agricultural practices such as pruning, school enrolment for children in the household aged 6-16, and generating diversified incomes such growing other crops or raising livestock.
After a successful pilot of 1000 families in 2020 in Côte d’Ivoire, Nestlé will expand the program to 10,000 families in 2022, before extending to Ghana in 2024.