Assessing the Impact of Certification on Cocoa Farmers' Livelihoods in Ghana: A Study by Cirad and ISSER under the COCOA4FUTURE Project

04/10/2024

To assess the influence of participation in certification programs on the lives of cocoa farmer households in Ghana, 糖心Vlog, in collaboration with the Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research (ISSER), is implementing a study titled "The Impact of Certification on Cocoa Farmers鈥� Livelihood in Ghana." This study is part of the COCOA4FUTURE project, sponsored by the European Union and the French Development Agency. The study hypothesises that participation in certification programs enhances productivity and lowers production costs, leading to increased income for smallholder farmers. This increased income can then be used to improve their living conditions regarding food, shelter, education, and health.

The data collected will feed a study about the Impact of Certification on Cocoa Farmers’ Livelihood in Ghana. That research is relevant because previous studies exploring the impact of certification schemes have reported mixed evidence, indicating that impacts are commodity and context-specific. Some literature had emphasized the benefits that smallholder farmers derive from participating in certification programmes, including increased capital or assets, eradication of rural poverty, and improvement of their livelihoods, particularly through access to certified markets. However, when it comes to the cocoa sector, other research reported negative effects on yields and no effect on farm profit.

The Eastern region was purposively selected because the commercialization of certified cocoa production in Ghana started in this region. The four cooperatives in the Eastern region successfully implemented the Fairtrade© and organic© certifications. Communities under the purposively selected cooperatives were randomly selected, as well as the farm households for the study.

The data collection task was carried out by a team of 15 members. The team officially started fieldwork on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, with certified communities and concluded on Friday, June 7, 2024, with non-certified communities. The team was able to interview 1011 cocoa producers consisting of 607 FT and 404 non-certified farmers.

In the coming month, the data will be processed, and a paper will be prepared for publication. Additionally, a policy brief will be prepared, and a dissemination workshop will be organized to share the findings with relevant stakeholders, aiming to influence policy in Ghana’s cocoa sector.