This major study aims to contribute to the cocoa sector’s body of knowledge and provide a solid evidence base to test common assumptions and beliefs. The research covers issues such as household demographics, food security and nutrition, and crop choices and crop diversification. Specific to cocoa, the study investigates why households grow cocoa, and analyses the major aspects of cocoa production and marketing. Household wealth, income and poverty is also assessed, and further disaggregated in a cluster analysis. The study also looks at intra-household dynamics which are brought together in a gender chapter. Fieldwork was carried out in the cocoa growing regions of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in late 2016 and early 2017. A random sample of approximately 1500 households surveys were collected in each country. This was complemented by 37 focus group discussions in each country.

The conclusions of the study are:

1. The world is not ‘running out of cocoa farmer
2. Cocoa is currently the ‘best option’ for most households in cocoa growing regions
3. Poverty is not a ‘cocoa farmer’ phenomenon, but rather a ‘rural smallholder’ phenomenon
4. Poverty levels among cocoa households are less severe than projected by other researchers
5. Cocoa households already diversify their crops and with that their income
6. Cocoa production does not have a negative effect on food consumption, however there are periods of relative food insecurity
7. The choice to grow cocoa contributes to pressure on land availability, soil erosion and deforestation
8. Land-size positively correlates with income, but negatively with yield
9. Female-headed households have access to land, but their average land size is smaller than male-headed households
10. Despite the high importance given to cocoa, there are no optimal-functioning institutions in place
11. Despite the potential benefits of being organized in a cocoa producer group, most farmers are not organized
12. Most cocoa households do not keep a record of the inputs and labour they invested in cocoa production, and this is a barrier to professionalization
13. Good intentions to increase prices to farmers can potentially do harm if a supply/demand imbalance results
14. Although more often seen as a ‘man’s job’, cocoa farming should be considered as a family business
15. Men are typically the ones that sell the cocoa, which gives them more decision-making power over the largest share of the household income