From pruning cocoa trees to paying women directly and keeping children in school, Nestlé is betting that rewarding better farming practices, not just buying more cocoa can transform rural incomes across West Africa. As the programme expands in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, it is offering lessons for the future of Africa’s cocoa economy
For generations, many cocoa farmers believed that working harder was the only path to earning more. Yet despite long hours in their fields, millions of cocoa-growing families across West Africa remain trapped in low incomes, threatening not only rural livelihoods but also the long-term sustainability of one of the world’s most important agricultural commodities.
For Nestlé, one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies and a major buyer of cocoa for products ranging from KitKat to Milo, improving farmer incomes has become a business imperative as much as a sustainability goal. The company argues that a secure cocoa supply depends on farming families earning enough to invest in their farms, educate their children and build resilience against climate change.
That thinking has led to the Nestlé Income Accelerator Programme, an innovative family-centred initiative designed to help close the living income gap and reduce child labour risks. Rather than rewarding farmers only for the volume of cocoa they produce, the programme encourages behavioural change by paying cash incentives for adopting better farming practices, protecting children through school attendance and strengthening household incomes through initiatives such as Village Savings and Loans Associations.
Instead of waiting until cocoa beans reach the factory gate, Nestlé is rewarding farming households for the everyday decisions that make farms more productive, families more resilient and cocoa production more sustainable.
The programme, which is being implemented in both Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, now reaches about 45,000 cocoa farming households across West Africa and is expected to cover all Nestlé cocoa suppliers by 2030. Farmers receive practical support to improve productivity while families are encouraged to join Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs), diversify household incomes, keep children in school and strengthen long-term resilience.
Speaking to The High Street Journal during a visit to cocoa communities in Côte d’Ivoire, Nestlé Cocoa Plan Manager for West Africa, Nathaniel Bello, said the programme is built around one simple idea.
“It is about incentivising farmers to adopt good agricultural, social and environmental practices,” Bello said.
“We combine cash incentives with practical support so families can improve their farms and their livelihoods.”
The Day Farmers Learned That Less Could Produce More
One of the programme’s biggest lessons sounds almost contradictory.
To harvest more cocoa, farmers first have to cut away part of their trees.
For decades, many growers believed more branches meant more cocoa pods.
Koffi, a cocoa farmer who joined the programme after being selected by his cooperative, admits he once shared that belief.
“We thought that when a cocoa tree had many branches, it would produce more cocoa,” he recalled.
Nestlé’s extension officers introduced farmers to systematic pruning, explaining that removing excess branches improves air circulation, reduces disease and allows the trees to produce more pods.
The results changed his thinking completely.
“When we prune the trees, diseases reduce because there is better ventilation,” Koffi explained.
“The biggest difference is production.”
Before adopting the practice, his farm produced between one and two tonnes of cocoa annually.
“Today I harvest between two and four tonnes.”
For Bello, that outcome explains why pruning sits at the centre of the Income Accelerator Programme.
“Pruning unlocks the full potential of the cocoa tree,” he said.
“When it is done properly, production can double.”
For farming households that depend almost entirely on cocoa, doubling yields can fundamentally change family income without expanding farmland.
Bringing the Forest Back to the Farm
The programme’s second pillar focuses on agroforestry.
Rather than clearing every tree to maximise cocoa production, farmers are encouraged to plant carefully selected shade trees that improve soil fertility, regulate temperatures and make cocoa farms more resilient to climate change.
Koffi has embraced the approach.
Alongside cocoa, he now grows orange trees and other shade species across his plantation.
The additional trees improve the health of his cocoa farm while creating opportunities for future income diversification.
For Bello, restoring trees to cocoa landscapes is about protecting future harvests rather than sacrificing current production.
“It is really about bringing the forest back into cocoa farms in the right balance so production remains sustainable over time.”
Why Women Receive Half the Incentive
Perhaps the programme’s most innovative feature has nothing to do with cocoa trees.
Instead of paying only the registered cocoa farmer, Nestlé divides every incentive payment equally between husband and wife.
Initially, many men objected.
“They asked why half of the money should go to their wives,” Bello recalled.
“They said, ‘Give the money to me and I will give it to my wife.'”
Over time, attitudes began to change.
Women participating in Village Savings and Loans Associations save regularly and gain access to small loans to expand businesses ranging from petty trading to food processing and livestock production.
Independent assessments, Bello said, show improvements in women’s financial independence and participation in household decision-making.
“When women earn income, their first priority is usually the family, especially the children.”
Koffi has seen the benefits firsthand.
His wife joined the savings association, and the household now receives incentive payments in instalments after meeting agreed programme conditions.
“Before this programme, we were suffering,” he said.
“It was difficult even to put food on the table.”
“Today we can feed our family and send our children to school. There has been a very big change.”
Most recently, his household received an incentive payment of about 41,000 CFA francs, part of a series of payments tied to meeting programme milestones.
Children Belong in School, Not on Cocoa Farms
The fourth pillar of the programme focuses on education.
Families qualify for incentives only if children between six and sixteen years remain enrolled in school.
The objective is straightforward: reduce child labour risks while improving long-term opportunities for farming families.
Koffi says the requirement reflects the values his family already embraces.
“The children don’t work on the farm,” he said.
“They are in school.”
Instead, farm work is carried out by hired labourers under the traditional Abusa system, where workers receive agreed annual payments or a negotiated share of the harvest.
During peak farming periods, Koffi sometimes employs as many as five workers.
For Bello, linking school attendance directly to household income creates a powerful incentive for families to invest in education.
Rather than treating education as a separate social responsibility, the programme integrates it into the economics of farming.
Growing More Than Cocoa
The Income Accelerator Programme has expanded rapidly.
It began with just 1,000 farming households in 2021.
Participation increased to 10,000 households in 2022, grew to 30,000 by 2024, and now covers approximately 45,000 families across West Africa.
Nestlé expects to extend the programme to all of its cocoa suppliers by 2030.
The steady expansion reflects the company’s belief that securing the future of cocoa depends as much on improving farmer incomes as increasing production.
Lessons for Ghana’s Cocoa Economy
The programme carries important lessons for Ghana, where Nestlé is already implementing the Income Accelerator alongside Côte d’Ivoire.
Across the country, governments, development partners and cocoa institutions have invested heavily in farm inputs, rehabilitation programmes and extension services.
Yet many interventions still focus primarily on raising production rather than changing the household economics that keep many cocoa farmers trapped in poverty.
Nestlé’s approach offers a different model.
Instead of rewarding farmers only for the cocoa they produce, it rewards the behaviours that make farming families more productive, financially resilient and socially responsible.
The incentives encourage better farming practices, environmental stewardship, women’s economic empowerment, savings, diversified livelihoods and children’s education, all factors that ultimately contribute to a stronger and more sustainable cocoa sector.
For Ghana, where improving farmer incomes remains central to sustaining cocoa production, the model suggests that the future of cocoa may depend as much on investing in families as investing in farms.
As Koffi’s experience illustrates, when farmers earn more from healthier trees, women gain greater financial independence, children remain in school and households build additional sources of income, cocoa becomes more than an export crop.
It becomes the foundation for rural prosperity.
