Ghanaian cocoa farmers face major challenges: low cocoa prices, ageing cocoa trees, declining soil fertility. These are caused by a lack of expertise, a lack of resources for sustainable growing methods, and changing climate conditions. The results are low incomes and, in many cases, child labour. Large swathes of primary forest are cleared in order to exploit new, fertile areas, which has led to one of the highest deforestation rates in the world. To counteract further clearing and exploitation of the weakest, HALBA and the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative launched the «Alliances for Sankofa» project together with Coop, the International Trade Center (ITC), Fairtrade Max Havelaar, WWF Switzerland and further partners in 2019. The project is funded by HALBA, Coop, the ITC, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and Fairtrade Max Havelaar.
«Alliances for Sankofa» supports the sustainable cultivation of cocoa through dynamic agroforestry (DAF) and combines this with CO₂e offsetting measures certified to the Gold Standard. In addition, it has promoted the payment of a reference price that supports a living income since 2020. The project also seeks to strengthen the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative and enable it to take ownership of the project in the long term. HALBA further supports the partner cooperative in its commitment to fighting child labour and supporting women.
