Mars Chocolate releases gender assessment regarding women cocoa farmers in Côte d`Ivoire

In April 2013, Mars Chocolate signed the United Nations Women's Empowerment Principles as a demonstration of their commitment to empowering women in the cocoa sector. As part of its commitment and to promote the principle of "Mutuality," Mars Chocolate is releasing a gender assessment regarding women cocoa farmers in Cote d'Ivoire. The assessment in its entirety is available at www.cocoasustainability.com.

"The Sustainable Cocoa Initiative is committed to improving the wages and quality of life of cocoa farmers through training and community development. Women cocoa farmers are an integral part of ensuring that cocoa is sustainable, now and in the future, and Mars Chocolate is committed to empowering and supporting them," said Afzaal Malik, Mars Vice President for Corporate Affairs & Sustainability. The assessment offers the following conclusion: "The long-term sustainability of cocoa rests in part on the ways the sector capitalizes on the full potential of women who labor long hours on cocoa farms, often to cultivate both cocoa and food."

The assessment evaluates the business case for empowering women farmers in cocoa communities and provides a roadmap for enhancing Mars Chocolate's existing efforts to engage women in the Vision for Change program in Cote d'Ivoire. The company will embed its efforts to empower women cocoa farmers into Vision for Change, which will directly reach 150,000 farmers in Cote d’Ivoire through its network of Cocoa Development Centers and Cocoa Village Centers.

According to the report, women provide 45 percent of the labour on cocoa farms in Cote d'Ivoire, but due to cultural and economic factors, are often not viewed or referred to as "farmers." In large part, due to inequitable civil liberties and cultural norms in the country, women are being held back from fully participating in the cocoa sector. To that end, Mars Chocolate is in the process of developing a full gender outreach plan, which the company will share publicly and begin to implement by April 2014.

www.cocoasustainability.com