Project profile — Women and Cocoa Communities Initiative (WCCI)

• Côte d'Ivoire (100.00%)

• Population policy and administrative management:
Population policy and administrative management (13010) (2.50%)
Family planning (13030) (2.50%)
• Agricultural development:
Agricultural development (31120) (45.00%)
Agricultural financial services (31193) (15.00%)
Agricultural co-operatives (31194) (35.00%)

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (principal objective)
• Participatory development and good governance (significant objective)
• Biodiversity (significant objective)
• Climate change mitigation (significant objective)
• Climate Change Adaptation (significant objective)
• Youth Issues (significant objective)
• ICT as a tool for development (significant objective)

This project aims to improve living conditions in rural cocoa communities in Côte d’Ivoire, especially those of women and young girls. Project activities include the following: (1) raising awareness among, training and supporting women producers in terms of starting and strengthening small businesses and cooperatives; (2) making it easier for them to access credit and agricultural insurance; and (3) increasing climate change resilience through tree nurseries and sound agroforestry practices. The financing approach allows for a large amount of responsible private investments to be mobilized from cocoa companies, complementing Canadian development assistance. It is innovative and part of a fair-trade approach in the cocoa industry.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased socio-economic empowerment of women and young girls in the targeted rural cocoa communities; (2) improved performance of the Fédération nationale des femmes productrices de café et de cacao, cocoa cooperatives and women’s associations in delivering products and services that meet their members’ needs in terms of adapting to climate change, especially women and young girls; and (3) increased resilience of the targeted rural cocoa communities and their food systems, especially women, to climate change and socio-economic shocks.

Results achieved as of March 2025 include: (1) Increased participation of women in economic decision-making within the targeted rural cocoa-growing communities, reaching 64.04% of households, surpassing the project’s final goal of 60%; (2) increased use by 20 member organizations of the National Federation of Women Coffee-Cocoa Producers of products and services that meet their needs and are adapted to climate change, double the initial target set for this reporting period; and (3) development of an index-based insurance programme initiated by the Ivorian government, focusing on crops such as rice, maize, cotton, and cocoa, as well as the development of training in the fields to integrate climate-resilient agricultural practices. These insurance schemes will provide protection to producers against climate-related risks while also reducing financial risks.

• Proactive disclosure