Working towards gender equity in cocoa

Ghana is the second-largest cocoa producer in the world, making cocoa a vital part of the country’s economy. However, gender inequality is pervasive within the cocoa sector, due to a combination of unequal access to productive resources such as land and harmful gender norms at the household, community and institutional levels. Although women are involved in nearly all activities of cocoa production in Ghana, cocoa is largely considered a man’s crop, and women’s roles and contributions remain unrecognised, undervalued and often unpaid.

In 2021, ECOM Ghana partnered with USAID to pilot a comprehensive gender mainstreaming into its operations. This included using the GEI, conducting a gender analysis, developing a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Strategy, and implementing a series of gender-responsive activities.

The partnership was implemented between 2020 and 2023 under the USAID Integrated Land and Resource Governance (ILRG) programme, a global mechanism managed by Tetra Tech.

In response to these barriers, ECOM has partnered with USAID to promote gender equality and empower women in the cocoa value chain in Ghana. Our goal was to increase gender responsiveness in our internal policies and practices and pilot targeted women’s empowerment activities in cocoa communities.

To reach this goal, specific objectives included strengthening ECOM’s GESI capacity; promoting women’s economic empowerment (WEE) in cocoa communities through increased access to resources and shifts in harmful gender norms; and promoting income diversification and economic resilience for women.

Training farmers

Our Empowering Women in Cocoa Communities project – part of our GESI strategy – aimed to empower women by strengthening their land rights and promoting gender equality. This included training on cultivating alternative crops and non-crop ventures, such as baking and soap making, for additional income and providing seed funding to help participants set up new ventures.

Training staff

Our GSP training manual was updated to include six new modules on gender topics, and 26 field staff undertook a three-day training session on the new modules. During 2023, we exceeded our targets for training ECOM staff on the GESI and gender-inclusive farmer engagement. While this programme is currently specific to Ghana, we are hoping to build on its success by adapting it for use in other origins.