Introduction
With the Thank You For Supporting Poverty campaign we want to bring the stories of the people who are behind one of your favourite snacks – chocolate.
Despite two decades of sustainability programs, voluntary action, and well-intentioned promises by the chocolate industry and policy makers, cocoa farmers are still confronted with issues such as poverty, child labour, and deforestation on a daily basis. As consumers, we often feel powerless when it comes to such abstract and big issues, and thus tend to continue with business as usual as the issues just seem to be too big to influence.
At the basis of most challenges within the cocoa industry lies severe poverty, upholding many of the other aforementioned issues. The current consumer landscape seemingly facilitates the sheer inequality that hinders the improvement of the system by for instance paying prices that do not reflect the true costs of production. By bringing the stories behind your chocolate bar, we hope to inspire you to rethink your role as a consumer.
This photo campaign commenced in Agboville, a village in the Ivory Coast (West-Africa). More than 80% of all bulk cocoa worldwide comes from the Ivory Coast and Ghana. A pivotal aspect of this campaign is that it traces its origins to the very root of the cocoa industry, unveiling the stories of the people behind the big, aforementioned challenges. This campaign gives us a vivid glimpse of what happens during the process of making chocolate, and hopefully opens your eyes to the realities behind the sweetness that chocolate brings.
Thank you. For taking the time to go through our stories.
Cause of Donations
This campaign originated in Agboville, a village in the Ivory Coast, but it represents the stories of farmers across West Africa. The Ivory Coast and Ghana are the major producing countries for cocoa, as 80% of all bulk cocoa originates from these countries. In cooperation with the people of Agboville we made a campaign to tell their story. Via this page you can make a contribution to the community where we made the pictures – with the money raised they will start producing cocoa juice to generate an extra income.