Tony’s Open Chain GendeRroadma2p021-2026
1. Introduction Women 1 play a critical role in cocoa farming, contributing across nearly all stages of production. In Côte d’Ivoire, women are estimated to account for up to 45% of the direct cocoa labour force 2 , while in Ghana, an estimated one quarter of cocoa farms is managed by women 3 . Despite their significant contribution, women are often confined to subordinate roles , such as labourers or assistants , do not earn the same as men, and face persistent barriers to accessing land, resources, and agricultural training. These structural inequalities limit their ability to fully benefit from the economic and developmental opportunities associated with cocoa farming. 4
The terms equality and equity differ in important ways. Equality is typically defined as treating everyone the same and giving everyone access to the same opportunities. Equity refers to proportional representation (by race, class, gender, etc.) and recognizes that the position of women in the cocoa communities in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire is different than that of men.
To get equal outcomes we have identified the need to give an extra step up to women – not putting men at a disadvantage but giving women an extra step up. Our focus is therefore on creating equity rather than treating everyone the same.
Between 2021 –2026 we worked on
developing and implementing a roadmap to
address the gender inequity in the communities from which we source.
This
document provide s an overview of our approach.
Image source: 2014, Saskatoon Health Region
2. Understanding gender inequity in our supply chain
Between 2021 and 2023, Tony’s Open Chain:
• Undertook a comprehensive literature review and a series of stakeholder interviews to identify priority focus areas for its work on gender equality and women’s empowerment. This included a review of existing research on gender dynamics in the cocoa sector, as well as relevant strategic frameworks developed by NGOs and industry actors. 5 • Conducted a community needs assessment that incorporated gender -specific questions. Responses highlighted that women face disproportionate challenges within their communities, including a heavy and physically demanding workload, higher risks of injury, and limited representation in community leadership and decision -mak ing structures. • Building on these insights, Tony’s Open Chain carried out an internal analysis of its 5 Sourcing Principles to examine their intersection with gender and to identify gaps related to gender equality and equity within each principle. The objective was to develop a gender framework that aligns with the overall Tony’s Open Chain strategy and Sourcing Principles, an d that can be effectively operationalised and streamlined across all programmes.
In addition to the above, we monitor and stay up to date with publications and innovations focused on gender in the cocoa and agricultural sectors, ensuring our approach remains relevant and appropriate.
Key findings
Women play a critical role in cocoa farming but
often earn less income
. 6.
• Women cocoa farmers typically earn less than male farmers
• Cocoa farming is a family business, with all (adult) members of the household usually involved in cocoa . In Côte d’Ivoire, women carry out 68% of the labour involved in cocoa farming but are estimated to earn just 21% of the income generated. 7 • Women in agriculture often experience time poverty, due to the double burden of working on the farm as well as performing most of the unpaid domestic and care work at home (such as childcare, cooking, collecting water and fuel) leading to women consistently working longer hou rs compared to men 8 . When considering household, farming and other non - farm tasks together, women’s working hours exceed those of men by nearly
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30% 9 . This can limit women’s participation in higher - value agricultural activities as well as impacting women’s productivity, income and health
10 .
Expanding women’s access to resources and training
is important towards reducing
their greater livelihood vulnerability
• Women farmers often face barriers in terms of access to training and
education that could help them understand how to improve their own situation and gain greater empowerment in affairs at home and in their community. • Female -headed households are strongly overrepresented in more vulnerable segments of cocoa farmers . These households are typically characterised by a smaller household size and normally will not have a male husband in the house 11 . Women heads of household tend to rely more on hired labour, have smaller farm sizes , have less access to inputs and market, and have had less access to education resulting in higher illiteracy and innumeracy rates. 12 , In Ghana , female -headed households are estimated to have around a third less income than male -headed households. 13
Addressing gender ed roles and norms can unlock greater participation of women in decision ‑ making
• Men are typically the landowners and primary decision
-makers. As they
control the sale of crops, they often also control
decision -making on
household income 14 . These dynamics mean that men may have greater access to and control over agricultural inputs, tools and services compared to women. • Male - headed cocoa households tend to be the norm for
those households
15 .
with married couples where the male will self
-identify as head of household
This represents the These household units are characterized by men’s dominant roles in cocoa labour, decision - making, and control over income and resources, while women in the majority of households in the TOC supply chain. household bear greater responsibility for food production, household work, and marginal cocoa tasks, with more limited access to land, services, and the economic benefits of cocoa due to prevailing gender norms. 16
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• With women’s land ownership at around 25% in C
ôte d’Ivoire, women farmers
largely contribute their labour to cocoa farms they do not own
(as part of a
male -headed household) and where they have limited control on income earned. 17 • Beyond the household level, women also often lack a voice in decision - making at the community and cooperative level s, and are often underrepresented in leadership positions.
Investing in women helps to reduce child labour and support sustainable development in cocoa -growing communities
• Gender equality in cocoa is first and foremost a matter of fairness, dignity and rights. At the same time, evidence shows that greater gender equality can also generate wider benefits for children, households, communities and the long -term resilience of th e cocoa sector. • Various studies show that w omen plant and consume more diverse and nutritious crops than men, with established links to increased household dietary diversity and/or nutrition, including through business income from selling of those crops. Improved nutrition, in turn has been generally associated with corollary economic benefits, including lower health costs.
18
Women farmers spend
a greater proportion of
their income on education
•
19 Over time , this is likely to enable children to
and nutrition for their children.
spend more time in school
and reduce child labour.
3. Our gender roadmap: a focus on promoting women
Based on the reviews conducted, Tony’s Open Chain identified
enabling the effective
participation of women as the primary focus area for
our work on gender.
Our goal
To achieve strong and meaningful participation of women at
three levels: at the
cooperative, within the household,
and in the community.
Why this focus? 1. Enabling the effective participation of women lies within our sphere of influence: through partnerships with cooperatives, we are able to support improvements in the meaningful representation of women at all levels of the
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cooperative, with a particular emphasis on leadership and decision
-making
roles. Strengthening women’s participation at these levels helps ensure that women’s perspectives are represented and taken into account in cooperative decision -making, thereby contributing to greater gender equity. 2. Visibly supporting women in positions of leadership helps model positive gender norms and good practices within communities.
A 2-pronged approach
Tony’s Open Chain through two complementary approaches : 1) gender mainst reaming and 2) gender interventions. Gender mainstreaming entails that we apply a gender lens across all ou r activities with partner cooperatives, assessing the implications of our programmes and promotes gender equ ity in the cocoa sector sourcing principles for both women and men, and systematically ensuring women’s inclusion. Alongside this we carry out more targeted interventions aimed at addressing specific inequalities.
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Pillar 1: Gender Mainstreaming
We work closely with our partner cooperatives to incorporate and mainstream approaches in day -to-day operations that seek to address structural inequalities faced by women, and p lace women at the table in decision making. Below, we provide key examples of how this works in practice.
Our partnerships with cooperatives
• Women in decision - making positions . Tony's Open Chain partner cooperatives submit data on the number of women in leadership or decision -making positions on an annual basis , reflect ing women holding positions on partner cooperatives' board of directors, supervisory boards, leadership teams, or management sub -committees. Out of a total of 462 people in decision - making positions across our 22 partner cooperatives, 75 were women, averaging 21% across all cooperatives. At individual cooperative level, the top 3 cooperatives had 40%, 45% and 46% women in leadership/decision - making roles. • Bringing more visibility to wo men farmers : The annual Best Farmer Award has separate category for Best Female Farmer.
Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS)
1. Gender -responsive recruitment & onboarding.
Tony’s Open Chain requires all
partner cooperatives establishing a new CLMRS to apply a gender -responsive recruitment and onboarding approach , with the aim of removing s tructural barriers to women applying for Community Facilitator or Monitoring & Remediation Agent roles . This includes implementing sp ecific policies related to pregnancy and maternity, flexible working hours, and safe deployment planning, amongst others. For example, lack of prior motorbike experience does not disqualify women candidates. Women who wish to do so can access 1 –2 day motorbike driving lessons, alongside financial and administrative support to obtain a valid driving licence where required. Deployment plans are reviewed regularly based on feedback from women staff, with women prioritised for placement in the safest and most accessible communities, particularly during the initial months of implementation.
2. Gender -balanced teams for child labour monitoring.
We aim to have age and
gender -balanced teams of CLMRS staff, with a target of
40% of our
Community Facilitators 20 being women by 2030, as part of our living income vision 21 . ICI research found that increasing the number of women in CLMRS can drive better outcomes, as children tend to feel more at ease with women interviewers, and partners are more comfortable trusting women to interview their child . 22 Between 2021/22 and 2024/25, the number of women working as community facilitators in partner cooperatives increased from 22% to 28%. 3. Gender -sensitive training . We also train community facilitators to address the specific circumstances faced by boys and girls in child labour during the annual trainings for CLMRS agents.
Productivity programming
• Pilot on financial compensation for cocoa farm renovation focused on women. As part of the evolved Tony’s Open Chain productivity programme launched in 2025, we are rolling out a pilot which provides annual compensation to 250 women beneficiaries (60% women lead farmers, 40% spouses of men lead farmers) at ECOJAD for three consecutive years to support the planting of new cocoa trees. The compensation amount reflects the estimated income farmers would have earned had the trees not been replanted, based on farm yield and the living income reference price. This pilot tests the 100 Weeks Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) approach, which combines financial literacy training, VSLAs and weekly cash payments to offset income losses during replanting. The intervention also aims to reduce gender - based inequalities by working directly with women, who often have a higher overall workload than men due to household and childcare responsibilities, livestock care, food cropping and cocoa production. • Support for vulnerable farmers. Whilst working with highly motivated farmers as part of the Farm Transformation programme , we also want to make sure that the most vulnerable farmers are not left behind. This is why we will also support the renovation of 20% of farmland for a subset of vulnerable farmers , across all partner cooperatives. The selection of vulnerable farmers will be determined together with partner cooperatives, with gender considered one of the vulnerability factors.
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Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
Tony’s Open Chain has developed a set of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) principles for its programme work, and one of the principles included is equity. Through this principle, we commit to considering power dynamics, partnerships, resource distribution, roles and responsibilities with an equity lens across our MEL work . As part of this commitment to embedding equity in our MEL approach, gender is an essential consideration. We are committed to considering gender and applying a gender lens throughout our MEL work, tailored to align with different approaches, methodologies and research questions. Examples of this include: 1. Ensuring our sample size of men and women for large -scale quantitative surveys (such as the farmer survey carried out in 2025), is representative of our supply chain demographics and is sufficient to identify and explore any gendered differences in our sur vey results. 2. Following up quantitative surveys with qualitative women -only focus groups to ensure we effectively capture the perspective of women farmers (this is planned as a follow -up to the above -mentioned farmer survey, with a focus on getting women -farmer insights on hired labour choices). 3. Digging deeper than simply identifying whether participants are male or female and instead exploring household dynamics to better understand the difference between male and female -headed households (such as was done through the MPI survey between 2019 - 2023 23 ). 4. Disaggregating data and insights by gender as well as other farmer characteristics in our analyses (e.g. CLMRS, farmer survey, MPI survey, living income analysis). o Child labour : We collect gender - disaggregated data through our CLMRS system, allowing us not only to identify the number of girls and boys in child labour, but also gather information on the hazardous tasks they may carry out, their education status and other wellbeing questions. Collecting gender -disaggregated data can enable us to tailor the remediation actions for girls and boys to ensure these are appropriate and effective. Gender -disaggregated data is published in our annual impact report.
o Living income: In 2025 we expanded our living income analysis to include all members of a partner cooperative, rather than a sample,
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enabling us to bring a stronger gender lens to our analysis and enabling comparisons between male -headed and female -headed household s. 24 Our analysis found that women farmers were less likely to earn a living income than men farmers, with 32% of women and 42% of men earning at or above the living income benchmark across the 3 cooperatives in scope.
We close the feedback loop with partner cooperatives by sharing our findings in a way that’s accessible, timely, useful and relevant data and insights where relevant. We aim to further develop equitable MEL practices that create value for farmers and partner cooperatives. Our 5 Sourcing Principles Theory of Change (to be published later in 2026) has a specific pathway mapping out how we work with cooperatives on gender equity in management, leadership and inclusion.
– including gender disaggregated
Pillar 2: Gender Interventions
Alongside the gender mainstreaming approach outlined above, we
also implement
targeted programmes and interventions . These are aimed at tackling specific inequalities faced by women, as well as engag ing with men and women to address gender norms. While the below is not an exhaustive list, it provides an overview of key interventions carried out over the years by Tony’s Open Chain in collaboration with and funded by a range of partners , such as the Chocolonely Foundation . 1) Household Financial and Digital Literacy Training with 100WEEKS (2017 – 2024) : 100WEEKS delivers financial management and digital literacy training to 3,000 participants across 6 partner cooperatives. The programme targets both men and women, encouraging joint decision -making and shared financial planning within households. 2) Heroïnes programme (2021 -2023): The Ivoirian NGO ‘Genre Parité et Leadership Féminin – GEPALEF’, worked with Tony’s Open Chain during the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons. The objective of the programme was to develop women's empowerment and optimize their participation in the management of thei r
community and their cooperative. This was done by building the capacity of 150 women (Heroïnes), from the communities of 6 Tony’s Open Chain partner cooperatives, who could in turn impact the women of their various sect
ions. 6
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gender committees were established to build awareness of gender mainstreaming. 3) Working with the Fairtrade School of Leadership
(2023 – 2024): Fairtrade’s School
of Leadership includes activities to raise awareness about gender issues, and support producer organizations to understand and integrate women more fully into their membership and decision -making. In this way, the project has enhanced th e self -confidence and self -esteem of individual women, empowering them to understand their rights, build their financial and farming skills, and support other women farmers. 4) Fleurir Project (2023 – 2026) : The Fleurir Project is a two - year partnership between WONDER Foundation, Yarani School and CAYAT cocoa cooperative. The project aimed to strengthen income -generation opportunities for women and girls in the CAYAT cocoa -growing community of Côte d'Ivoire through business and vocational training. As part of the project, funded by the Chocolonely Foundation total of 204 women completed market - informed business and life skills training. Amongst those women, 10 highly vulnerable young women accessed accredited hospitality training through scholarschips. 100% of trained women are now economically active through salaried work or self-run micro -businesses. Funded work also included the establishment of a fully operational training kitchen and a creche that is evolving into a Centre for Early Childhood Protection. 5) Awareness Video Screenings with DMI (2024 – 2025) : To reinforce key parenting themes, our partner Development Media International (DMI), alongside local production companies, has developed 5 awareness videos in local languages. These screenings will promote positive parenting, non -violent discipline and children’s rights, aiming to shift perceptions around child labour and parenting roles. 6) Rooting for Change project (2024 – 2026) : In the cocoa -growing communities of Suhum Municipality, Ghana, Tony’s Open Chain and Plan International are working together to improve future opportunities for young people, especially girls and young women, and particularly on reducing unintended adolesc ent pregnancies. Over two years, at least 800 young people (10 -19 years, 60% girls/2.5% of the supply chain) will gain the knowledge, confidence, and access to services they need to make informed choices about thei r bodies and futures, free from discrimination, coercion, and violence.
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7) Padher (2025 -2026): This programme aims to reach 3,000 girls in the Ahofa region of Ghana. By delivering engaging menstrual and sexual education primarily through comics and animation, providing access to menstrual hygiene products, and tackling stigma this collaboration seeks to support girls to stay in school and reach their full potential by addressing the challenges of period poverty, misinformation and shame. 8) Positive Parenting Pilot with ICS -SP (2025 – 2026) : This initiative aims to strengthen parenting skills through guided group sessions covering topics such as gender equity, relationship dynamics, family wellbeing, mental health, positive communication, child development and early stimulation, male engagemen t, and family health and nutrition. The pilot will be implemented at two cooperative s in 2025/26, targeting 4,320 parents and thereby increasing protection for over 8000 children. P lans for scale up will be considered on completion of the pilot . 9) Financial inclusion through technology with Agriterra (202 5 - 2027 ): We are working on financial inclusion such as mobile banking (targeting 14,000 cooperative members) and piloting financial literacy training (targeting 1,500 members) with 6 partner cooperatives. These initiatives are expected to reach 33% and 4% respecti vely of the total cocoa farmers in our supply chain for the 2025/26 season. Our aim is to scale up these initiatives across the cocoa supply chain, with a particular focus on empowering women. Evidence from Cocobod and the Better than Cash Alliance suggest s that digital payments provide greater financial autonomy for women farmers through “helping bring them into the formal economy, accelerating financial inclusion, and increasing access to diverse opportunities” 25 . 10) The Washing Machine Project (2025 – 2027 ) : We are working with the Washing Machine Project to distribute washing machines to households, r educing the domestic workload and time spent on hand washing laundry, and improving quality of life in Côte d’Ivoire through the local distribution and assembly of manual washing machines. The aim is to distribute 90 manual washing machines over the course of the projec t, reaching at least 1400 individuals .
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2026 onwards :
While many of the initiatives listed above will run beyond 2026, we are also developing an updated gender strategy, to be published later this year.
Because
future -proofing cocoa starts with gender equity.
1 While gender extends far beyond binary categories, in the context of our work and our sphere of influence, we are referring to men and women. 2 Greene, M. E., & Robles, O. J. (2014). A sustainable, thriving cocoa sector for future generations: The business case for why women matter and what to do about it. KIT Royal Tropical Institute and IPP. 3 Marston, A. (2016). Women’s rights in the cocoa sector: Examples of emerging good practice. Oxfam. 4 VOICE Network. (2025). Cocoa Barometer 2025. VOICE Network. 5 This included, amongst others: Fairtrade International. (2020). Women’s access, equity and empowerment: Progress and uptake of the Fairtrade gender strategy . Fairtrade International; Bah, A., & Laven, A. (2019). Closing the income gap of cocoa households in Cote d’Ivoire: Taking a gender-sensitive household approach. KIT Royal Tropical Institute; KIT Royal Tropical Institute. (2021). Advancing gender equality & women’s empowerment ; Mars, Incorporated. (n.d.). Cocoa for Generations (Program page). Mars. ; Mondelēz International. (2016). New CARE report highlights Cocoa Life’s positive impact on women’s empowerment 6 Bah, A., & Laven, A. (2019). Closing the income gap of cocoa households in Cote d’Ivoire: Taking a gender-sensitive household approach. KIT Royal Tropical Institute. 7 African Development Bank Group. (2015). Economic empowerment of African women through equitable participation in agricultural value chains. African Development Bank Group 8 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2011). The state of food and agriculture 2010–11: Women in agriculture—Closing the gender gap for development. FAO. 9 Vargas Hill, R., & Vigneri, M. (2011). Mainstreaming gender sensitivity in cash crop market supply chains (ESA Working Paper No. 11-08). 10 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2023). The status of women in agrifood systems. FAO. 11 Bah, A., & Laven, A. (2019). Closing the income gap of cocoa households in Cote d’Ivoire: Taking a gender-sensitive household approach. KIT Royal Tropical Institute. 12 VOICE Network. (2025). Cocoa Barometer 2025. VOICE Network. 13 Tyszler, M., Bymolt, R., & Laven, A. (2018). Analysis of the income gap of cocoa producing households in Ghana . KIT Royal Tropical Institute 14 Bymolt, R., Laven, A., & Tyszler, M. (2018). Demystifying the cocoa sector in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire: Chapter 3, Respondent and household demographics. KIT Royal Tropical Institute. 15 Bah, A., & Laven, A. (2019). Closing the income gap of cocoa households in Cote d’Ivoire: Taking a gender-sensitive household approach. KIT Royal Tropical Institute. 16 Bah, A., & Laven, A. (2019). Closing the income gap of cocoa households in Cote d’Ivoire: Taking a gender-sensitive household approach. KIT Royal Tropical Institute.
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17 African Development Bank Group. (2015). Economic empowerment of African women through equitable participation in agricultural value chains. African Development Bank Group. 18 Anderson, C. L., Reynolds, T. W., Biscaye, P., Patwardhan, V., & Schmidt, C. (2021). Economic benefits of empowering women in agriculture: Assumptions and evidence. Journal of Development Studies, 57 (2), 193–208. 19 Bah, A., & Laven, A. (2019). Closing the income gap of cocoa households in Cote d’Ivoire: Taking a gender-sensitive household approach. KIT Royal Tropical Institute. 20 Community Facilitators are hired by the cooperative. They are responsible for conducting annual household visits to discuss child labour activities (based on national legislation and in line with ILO standards) with families, surveying all children under 18, collecting data via a mobile app, conducting a needs assessment and proposing appropriate remediation activities, implementing these activities together with other relevant team members at the cooperative, and conducting regular follow-up. 21 Tony’s Open Chain Impact Report 2024/25: https://online.flippingbook.com/view/176457927/54/ 22 International Cocoa Initiative. (2024). Gender dimensions in the role of CLMRS agents. 23 Tony’s Open Chain Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index Report, May 2025: https://online.flippingbook.com/view/223786037/ 24 In 2024/25, gender disaggregation was included as part of the living income analysis, provided partner cooperatives listed gender in their farmer registers (which was the case for all cooperatives included). 25 Better Than Cash Alliance. (2023). Digitizing payments in the Ghana cocoa sector: The path to financial equality.
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