A new independent report by the KIT Institute shows that the Nestlé Income Accelerator continues to deliver measurable gains in productivity, women's empowerment, cocoa income and household resilience. The evaluation covers nearly 2 000 participating households in Côte d'Ivoire assessed during the program's test-at-scale phase since its launch in 2022.
The KIT Institute report found that participating cocoa-farming households increased cocoa yields by 4% in kilograms per hectare, while yields declined by 16% among comparable households. That represents a 20 percentage point advantage for participating households. During the particularly challenging 2024/2025 season, participating households produced an average of 2 116 kilograms of cocoa - around 500 kilograms more than similar households. These results point to stronger performance and greater resilience in the face of adverse weather and volatile cocoa markets.
"These findings validate our pioneering approach to helping cocoa-farming families in West Africa close the gap to a living income," said Stéphane Detaille, Head of ESG for Confectionery & Snacking Strategic Business Unit at Nestlé. "They show that rewarding effective farm practices, strengthening women's empowerment and building household resilience deliver encouraging results and must go hand-in-hand to deliver lasting impact. They also help us identify where to focus next - particularly on income diversification and protection against future shocks - as we further scale the program to more cocoa-farming families." |
