Child labor is a symptom of underlying systemic
issues in the cocoa supply chain such as poverty
and slow rural development. Our Cocoa Life
program’s holistic approach addresses these root
causes through interventions to increase income,
empower communities to advocate for their
development, and the empowerment of women
at household and community level. Our goal is to
set up a Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation
System (CLMRS) in all Cocoa Life communities
in West Africa by 2025, including Côte d’Ivoire
and Ghana, where third-party studies including
independent assessments commissioned by
Mondelēz International confirmed a significant
risk of child labor.
In 2021, we made significant progress in rolling
out CLRMS, expanding coverage to 1,548
communities, bringing us to 61% coverage in West
Africa. A Cocoa Life community is considered
covered by a CLMRS, when people have been
sensitized to the dangers of child labour and
remediation is under way for identified vulnerable
children.
At the end of 2021, 75% of the cocoa volume for
our chocolate brands was sourced sustainably
through our Cocoa Life program, and we aim
to deliver 100% by 2025. The program invests
in cocoa farming communities in Côte d’Ivoire,
Ghana, Indonesia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic
and India, and already works with more than
200,000 farmers. Our main cocoa suppliers
are listed as partners on our Cocoa Life
website, and the full list of our tier 1 and tier
2 suppliers is also available. We have mapped
78% of Cocoa Life farms in an effort to gain a
deeper understanding of the needs of farming
communities and the boundaries of farms. Our
interactive farm map is available here. 5