What are we tracing: The Cocoa Farmer or the Farmer's quality of life

Cocoa Traceability, Small Farmers, Big Burdens

May 05, 2025

∙ Paid

A digital illustration of a cocoa pod depicted as a mountain with a winding road spiralling upward around its surface from base to top. The cocoa pod is textured and earthy, symbolising origin and natural growth, while the road carved around it represents the journey of traceability in the cocoa supply chain. The background is muted, drawing focus to the pod and its path, metaphorically linking farm-level beginnings to global oversight

“The morning sun filters through the tall cocoa trees as Ama crouches to scrape moss off a pod in her small farm in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire. She is thinking about the announcement her cooperative chairman made the day before: starting next season, every farmer must have their land GPS-mapped and officially registered, or else the cooperative will not…

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