The stability of global supply chains is shaped by decisions made in individual homes, not just corporate boardrooms. If farmers can’t absorb shocks, neither can the supply chains that depend on them.
Agribusiness supply chains face mounting pressures from climate change, price volatility, labour issues and deepening rural poverty. Cocoa is a stark example: 70% of the world’s cocoa is produced by two million smallholder farmers in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, making the sector highly exposed to climate and market shocks. Women carry the day-to-day burden of farm and household labour, but often the social and economic pressures they face reduce productivity, increase compliance risks, and threaten long-term supply.
Despite these challenges, cocoa offers clear lessons about what actually works to strengthen supply chain resilience, and the important role women play. Central to this is understanding how individual families earn, save and make decisions, particularly in communities where average household income is as little as 60% of the living income benchmark.1
In Côte d’Ivoire, about one in eight adults belongs to a savings group,2 which in some areas provides threequarters of all local loans,3 acting as the de facto financial system for entire villages. Amid ongoing price fluctuations and economic uncertainty, savings groups offer women and their families one of the most dependable sources of financial stability, allowing households to absorb shocks that would otherwise ripple through the supply chain.
This stability depends on the people who keep farms and families functioning—and in most households, that is women. They often work cocoa fields while also feeding their families, caring for children, and managing health and school needs. Yet many still have little say in how money is spent—at home or on farm improvements. Recognising their contributions and ensuring they have a voice in decisions is critical to creating a system that supports productive cocoa farms and addresses underlying social issues such as child labour.
Insights on achieving household-level engagement at scale
Cocoa companies come to us because household-level change is complex, but it’s where the long-term business gains lie. With nearly two decades of partnership in cocoa communities, CARE’s results show that driving change at the household level is both feasible and highly effective. An 18:1 return on every dollar invested in Village Saving and Loans Associations (VSLAs) makes the business case clear:4 when women can plan, access finance, and invest, their families can better withstand shocks and supply chains become significantly more resilient.
The insights we’ve gained from this are not limited to cocoa, but relevant to any global business dependent on smallholder farmers.
Key lessons include:
1. Address local realities, from ownership to attitudes
Stabilizing incomes and addressing sector-wide problems requires joint decisions at household level as much as better inputs or improved farm practices. Where women have no say in managing family finances—how land is used, whether they can work outside the home, or how to pay school costs—household dynamics can undermine supply chain stability. But when women are part of the decisionmaking process, families plan and prioritise more effectively—applying farm practices that improve quality while managing school and labour needs in ways that reduce childlabour pressures.
What can this look like in practice?
Companies such as Mars and Hershey use VSLAs as the foundation for dialogue about women’s roles—at home, on the farm, and in supply chains. This helps families plan together, strengthening women’s confidence and decisionmaking power over farm and household investments. Dialogue also helps communities address barriers to women’s income, from supporting land inheritance to repairing roads and bridges to reach markets.
The business value?
o Household budgets align with farm and family priorities.
o Farm management becomes more reliable.
o Increased reinvestment of savings and profit in production.
⇒ Minimises supply chain disruption.
2. Build diversified income streams
Single-crop dependence is a major supply chain risk, as cocoa alone cannot lift most families to a living income. For many women, joining a savings group is the first step toward launching or expanding alternative income-generating activities. CARE’s survey data links diversified livelihoods and VSLA performance,5 and the benefits extend beyond resilience to price or weather shocks. When women earn independently, child labour risks fall, their influence rises, and they have more capital to reinvest in farms. As women’s business aspirations grow, targeted support for micro-entrepreneurs strengthens local economies and helps families stay in cocoa.
What can this look like in practice?
Mondelēz International’s support has been instrumental in kick-starting efforts to build local financial ecosystems that better support emerging micro-businesses and respond to women’s needs as their business aspirations grow. Through this work, entrepreneurs from VSLAs receive tailored business support, local mentorship, and access to seed funding to help them grow.
The business value?
o Expanded employment and economic opportunities in cocoa communities which reduces the risk of farm abandonment.
o Greater household capacity to invest in farm productivity.
o Higher ability to continue farming despite environmental or economic shocks.
⇒ Stabilises supply and reduces disruption risks.
3. Link households with services and finance
Families with business plans and clear shared goals use loans and services more effectively. When women apply skills from savings groups through business-focused dialogue with their spouse, families plan their spending better. But beyond the impact on families, aggregated household-level plans offer companies an entry point for coordinating training, inputs, and finance around household-driven priorities.
What can this look like in practice?
For the past decade, Mars has pioneered household-level planning as key to the success of family farms. The Hershey Income Accelerator Program uses household action plans to connect training from other partners, such as Rainforest Alliance, with VSLA loans. For households seeking further investment, linking to formal finance through MFIs such as ADVANS has more than tripled loan capacity.6
The business value?
o Farmers access capital to apply improved practices.
o Company services and subsidies become more effective and sustainable.
o Partners can better target households needing additional support.
⇒ Increases farm productivity and reliability.
4. Promote collaboration at all levels
No company can address systemic risks alone. For systems to work, they must be grounded not just in farms and markets, but in what women say they need. CARE’s trusted role with both communities and businesses enables us to convene partners and build scalable solutions rooted in farmers’ priorities to strengthen market systems across sectors.
What can this look like in practice?
Connecting Farmerline, a digital agriculture provider offering training, market information and access to inputs, with VSLAs and finance partners in Ghana helps savings group members in cocoa communities to use their savings records to qualify for larger loans while accessing information that improves production and profit. Globally, the OPEN initiative, developed with support from Mondelēz International, enables us to test collaborations like this—designed in direct response to the challenges women tell us are holding them back. OPEN’s seed funding model then creates opportunities for others in cocoa and beyond to jointly invest in making these solutions a reality.
The business value?
o Greater sustainability of supply chain investments.
o Higher value for money.
⇒ Improves long-term supply chain stability.
Cocoa’s challenges are complex and beyond what women—already carrying the greatest household burden—can resolve alone. But when women gain stability, financial tools, and a voice through VSLAs and the opportunities they unlock, households make better decisions, absorb risk more effectively, and become more stable. This resilience ultimately depends on women’s social and economic influence. While broader structural conditions remain a company responsibility, household-level investment is where lasting resilience begins. Building systems that respond to women’s needs is how this change becomes possible at scale—and how companies can strengthen the foundations of a more secure cocoa supply.
References
1. CARE program surveys, Côte D’Ivoire, 2025. ↩
2. Finscope data estimates 12.7% are members, a total of 2.3 million people. ↩
3. CARE program surveys, 2025. ↩
4. Krause et al, VSLA by the Numbers: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Impact and ROI of VSLAs, 2024. ↩
5. CARE: Living Income Learning brief (internal), March 2026. ↩
6. CARE: Living Income Learning brief (internal), March 2026. ↩
