{"id":137262,"date":"2026-01-12T16:55:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T15:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oxfamfairtrade.be\/?p=137262"},"modified":"2026-01-15T15:46:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T14:46:34","slug":"living-income-finally-at-the-heart-of-the-cocoa-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oxfamfairtrade.be\/en\/2026\/01\/living-income-finally-at-the-heart-of-the-cocoa-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"Living Income: Finally at the\u00a0heart of the\u00a0cocoa\u00a0agenda\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"is-style-oxfam-introduction\">After years of advocacy, a major milestone has been reached: today,\u00a079\u00a0% of Belgian chocolate actors invest in sustainable production with a clear ambition:\u00a0ending deforestation and child\u00a0labour.\u00a0That\u00a0represents\u00a0a\u00a0huge step forward.\u00a0Yet the road ahead\u00a0remains\u00a0long. In C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u00a0(Ivory Coast), three out of four people working in cocoa still do not earn enough to live with dignity.\u00a0Oxfam continues to fight for change and\u00a0remains\u00a0a frontrunner in a\u00a0fast-moving\u00a0chocolate industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Something big is happening. Within&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.idhsustainabletrade.com\/initiative\/beyondchocolate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the&nbsp;<strong>Beyond Chocolate<\/strong>&nbsp;partnership<\/a>, 90% of members have&nbsp;honoured&nbsp;their commitments: investing in sustainable production&nbsp;programmes&nbsp;for the Belgian market, with the&nbsp;goal&nbsp;of&nbsp;eliminating&nbsp;deforestation and child&nbsp;labour.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s&nbsp;a major achievement,&nbsp;but also a reminder: sustainability only makes sense if cocoa farmers can earn a living income.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For decades, the cocoa supply chain has been under pressure: low farmgate prices, chronic poverty, deforestation, child&nbsp;labour. These&nbsp;elements are&nbsp;the symptoms of a system that simply&nbsp;doesn\u2019t&nbsp;work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oxfam has been sounding the alarm for more than 50 years. Today, Beyond Chocolate is the first partnership with the potential to truly shift the sector.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More than&nbsp;<strong>90 companies and&nbsp;organisations<\/strong>, including Oxfam, now&nbsp;participate,&nbsp;representing&nbsp;<strong>85 to 90% of the Belgian chocolate market<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Together, they work toward two shared goals:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>By 2025:<\/strong>\u00a0invest in sustainable\u00a0programmes to structurally tackle deforestation and child\u00a0labour.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>By 2030:<\/strong>\u00a0ensure that all cocoa farmers in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire earn\u00a0<strong>at least a living income<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>First Target Reached, now&nbsp;time for&nbsp;the&nbsp;next&nbsp;step<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At the 2025 Beyond Chocolate annual conference, 90% of partners, or 79 % of the Belgian market, confirmed they had met the first target.\u00a0The\u00a0progress\u00a0is\u00a0already\u00a0visible on the\u00a0ground:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>higher productivity and\u00a0better quality\u00a0cocoa,\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>nursery\u00a0programmes\u00a0run within cooperatives,\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>increased\u00a0agroecological\u00a0practices,\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rainforest Alliance, organic and Fairtrade certifications.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Another\u00a0significant change\u00a0is coming:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/environment.ec.europa.eu\/topics\/forests\/deforestation\/regulation-deforestation-free-products_en?etrans=nl&amp;prefLang=fr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the EU\u2019s new\u00a0<strong>Deforestation Free Supply Chains Regulation (EUDR)<\/strong><\/a>, set to apply to cocoa from early 2027.\u00a0But\u00a0let\u2019s\u00a0be honest:\u00a0<strong>a sustainable cocoa sector without living income is only half the job done<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How&nbsp;did Beyond Chocolate&nbsp;start?<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond Chocolate was launched in 2018, when Belgian chocolate producers and major retailers joined forces under one commitment. But it&nbsp;didn\u2019t&nbsp;happen overnight.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A first partnership existed, yet it&nbsp;failed to&nbsp;address the root causes of the crisis. Oxfam engaged in dialogue with policymakers and the chocolate industry to push for deeper, more structural&nbsp;commitments. Thanks to this collective effort, today\u2019s partnership finally puts living income and the fight against deforestation at the&nbsp;centre.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What&nbsp;is&nbsp;a&nbsp;living&nbsp;income?<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A living income is the amount a family needs to cover all basic needs: food, clothing, healthcare, school fees\u2026 and enough savings to cope with future risks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Without&nbsp;a living&nbsp;income, farmers cannot invest in sustainable farming or improve productivity. Many are forced to&nbsp;clear&nbsp;more land simply to survive.&nbsp;In these circumstances, all hands are forced into the fields, even children, with girls bearing the greatest burden.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research is unequivocal: achieving a living income is the key to transforming the cocoa sector for good.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Slow but&nbsp;real&nbsp;progress&nbsp;made&nbsp;possible&nbsp;through&nbsp;collective&nbsp;action<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The recent rise in cocoa prices sends an encouraging signal.\u00a0<br>According to a Fairtrade study, in 2025\u00a0<strong>24% of\u00a0cocoa growing\u00a0households in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire reached a living income<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s&nbsp;a start. There is still a long way to go.&nbsp;<br>But the sector is finally moving, and companies are playing a crucial role in this shift.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Oxfam&nbsp;sets the&nbsp;bar&nbsp;higher<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At Oxfam Fair Trade, we know exactly what this transition means\u00a0in the countries we buy cocoa from. Our story began decades ago with the same ambition.\u00a0We have been\u00a0Fairtrade certified\u00a0from the beginning, and in our products, every ingredient that can be Fairtrade\u00a0<em>truly is<\/em>,\u00a0never just a token\u00a0component.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 2019,&nbsp;we\u2019ve&nbsp;been investing in agroecology and living income through&nbsp;<strong>Bite to Fight<\/strong>, our pilot project in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The results are tangible: in&nbsp;<strong>2024\u20132025, 79% of Bite to Fight farmers achieved a living income<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is still far from the&nbsp;sector\u2019s&nbsp;norm,&nbsp;but it proves one thing:&nbsp;<em>it is&nbsp;possible!<\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s\u00a0why we welcome Beyond Chocolate\u2019s decision to place living income at the very heart of Belgium\u2019s chocolate supply chain.\u00a0<br>Because no one,\u00a0anywhere in the world,\u00a0should work without being able to live with dignity.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"call-to-action-block_5cf4e15df19e1b3fb2731877e4944f71\" class=\"call-to-action\">\n\t<div class=\"row mx-auto\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col-12 mx-auto \">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"has-background has-oxfam-green-background-color rounded\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"call-to-action__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"call-to-action__content__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"call-to-action__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4>Fair Trade: because chocolate should pay a living income<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>We\u2019ve been fighting for more than seven years to make living income a reality in cocoa.  Curious to discover our Bite to Fight project? <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"call-to-action__content__button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfamfairtrade.be\/en\/bite-to-fight\/\" target=\"\">Learn more about Bite to Fight <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After years of advocacy, a major milestone has been reached: today,\u00a079\u00a0% of Belgian chocolate actors invest in sustainable production with a clear ambition:\u00a0ending deforestation and child\u00a0labour.\u00a0That\u00a0represents\u00a0a\u00a0huge step forward.\u00a0Yet the road ahead\u00a0remains\u00a0long. In C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u00a0(Ivory Coast), three out of four people working in cocoa still do not earn enough to live &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":460,"featured_media":137079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1051],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-products"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfamfairtrade.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfamfairtrade.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfamfairtrade.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfamfairtrade.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/460"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfamfairtrade.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfamfairtrade.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137265,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfamfairtrade.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137262\/revisions\/137265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfamfairtrade.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfamfairtrade.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfamfairtrade.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfamfairtrade.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}