• 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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