Nestle : Helping women play a bigger role in cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire
August 20, 2014 at 07:58 am EDT
Share
Aug 20, 2014
Helping women play a bigger role in cocoa in Côte d'Ivoire
Nestlé has launched a series of workshops this week in Côte d'Ivoire, from where it sources much of the cocoa for its chocolate, aimed at helping increase women's participation in the country's cocoa industry.
The workshops are part of Nestlé's broader goals to raise awareness of gender issues through the Nestlé Cocoa Plan, which seeks to improve the lives of cocoa farmers, eliminate child labour and improve cocoa productivity.
Those attending the workshops, including cocoa producers, community leaders and the head of women's associations, are discussing ideas and strategies to increase the role and participation of women in the country's cocoa co-operatives.
The workshops are also an opportunity for participants to better understand the gender concept in the cocoa supply chain and to discuss ways to overcome social and cultural barriers, which tend to consider cocoa as a male-only business in Côte d'Ivoire.
The first training session is taking place at Nestlé's Experimental Farm at Zambakro, near the capital, Yamoussoukro.
The workshops stem from a recent Action Plan (pdf, 546 Kb) created by Nestlé to improve the lives of women working in the cocoa communities in Côte d'Ivoire.
Nestlé believes that when women are empowered, they raise healthier families and their children are more likely to go to school rather than work on cocoa farms.
Read more about what Nestlé is doing to improve the lives of women who work in cocoa communities in Côte d'Ivoire and about Nestlé's Cocoa Plan
Watch a video on how Nestlé's Cocoa Plan is empowering women in Côte d'Ivoire.
Nestlé S.A. is the world's leading agri-food group. Net sales break down by category of products as follows:
- powdered and liquid beverages (26.7%): soluble coffees (Nescafé and Starbucks brands), coffee in capsules (Nespresso), chocolate drinks (Nesquik, Milo, etc.), tea drinks (Nestea), etc.;
- pet food (20.3%): brands such as Purina, Friskies, Felix, etc.;
- pharmaceutical, nutrition and well-being products (16.4%): nutritional supplements (Resource, Boost, Nutren, Optifast, Peptamen brands, etc.), infant and maternal nutrition products (NAN, illuma, Cerelac, Nido, Gerber), ketogenic beverages (BrainXpert), (Nesquick, Fitness, Cheerios, Lion, etc.), etc.;
- ready meals and seasoning products (12.5%): frozen and chilled dishes (Lean Cuisine, Hot Pockets and Stouffer's brands), soups (Maggi), etc.;
- dairy products and ice cream (11.8%): powdered milk, sweetened condensed milk, yoghurt and cream desserts, ice cream (Nido, Nesvita, Carnation, La Laitière, Coffee Mate, Nestlé Ice Cream, Dreyers, Häagen-Dazs, Extrême brands, etc.);
- chocolates, sweets and biscuits (8.7%): Kit Kat, Smarties, Cailler, Terrafertil, etc. brands;
- bottled waters (3.6%): Nestlé Pure Life, Vittel, Perrier, S. Pellegrino, etc. brands.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Switzerland (1.2%), France (3.8%), the United Kingdom (3.8%), Germany (2.4%), Europe (12.8%), the United States and Canada (35%), China (5.9%), Asia and Oceania (21.4%) and Latin America (13.7%).