The cocoa sector is addressing child labour through sustainability programs designed to help households achieve a living income—the net annual income necessary for a household to afford a decent standard of living. Families living below this benchmark often face difficult choices, relying on children for agricultural work and household chores instead of sending them to school.
By raising household incomes and enabling financial inclusion, sustainability initiatives aim to reduce the prevalence of child labour. Promoting gender equality and providing training on business strengthens these efforts by empowering women, diversifying incomes, enhancing household decision-making, and improving child well-being.
To support women and aid financial inclusion, we have established over 626 Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), which currently have 18,567 members (63% women) across Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo.
VSLAs serve as a crucial stepping stone to formal financial services, helping groups to not only grow their savings but also access loans. To support this, we are now identifying our most successful and mature VSLAs and linking them to xmicrofinance institutions, safely introducing them into a formal banking environment.
These links enable them to open bank accounts, access larger financial opportunities, and meet their growing needs—all while staying within the VSLA framework. By facilitating these financial linkages, we help VSLAs invest more effectively, strengthen their businesses, and further reduce the Living Income Gap.
In Ghana, our VSLAs are being set up on digital foundations to enhance their efficiency and transparency, build financial track records, and foster trust in the financial sector. Digitising credit history and automating key performance indicators for reporting helps to improve data accuracy and strengthens the financial credibility—or ‘bankability’—of VSLAs, enabling them to access even larger loans.
We are partnering with Webmate Ghana to roll out a new mobile app, which groups can use to securely track their savings and manage their finances more efficiently. So far, the secretaries of 24 VSLA groups have been trained in using the app, and all members have been enrolled.
Members like how the app saves time, increases transparency, and gives them real-time updates. They receive text messages before and after meetings, showing their savings, loans, and repayments—giving them peace of mind and more control over their finances.
With digital tools, our VSLAs are becoming stronger than ever, and we’re excited to see how they will continue to empower cocoa-growing households and communities.
Watch more about digitisation and its effects in the video below: