Mondelēz International has announced the expansion of its global cocoa sustainability initiative, Cocoa Life, in Brazil. The company says that Cocoa Life aims to create empowered and thriving cocoa farming communities, by helping farmers to become more profitable and sustainable while safeguarding the future of chocolate. Around the world, Mondelēz claims that the initiative is already making progress in five key cocoa origin countries: Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Indonesia, India and Dominican Republic.

Mondelēz International has been supporting cocoa production in Brazil since 2014 and says it will build on this work, and on the learnings from other origins, to fully deploy the Cocoa Life program. In Pará, the company will invest around $200,000 per year over the next three years to empower cocoa farmers and to nurture thriving and independent cocoa communities. In Bahia, wher farmers are said to face a myriad of challenges related to crop management, Cocoa Life is designed to provide guidance on the latest techniques in farm rejuvenation and good agricultural practices to improve yields and the quality of the cocoa produced as well as to mitigate environmental impact. The cocoa beans produced with Cocoa Life support will be part of the Mondelēz International supply chain network for its Lactachocolate portfolio.

“We are thrilled about adding Brazil to our Cocoa Life initiative. Brazil is not only a cocoa-growing country but it’s also an important chocolate manufacturing hub, home to one of our local heritage brands, Lacta, one of the countrys favorites and top-selling chocolate brand," says Christine Montenegro McGrath, Chief of Sustainability & Well-being. “Cocoa Life has already made a significant impact in West African cocoa farming communities and we expect it will do the same in Brazil. In addition, the program will also look at contributing to the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and to the community development.”

The Cocoa Life launch in Brazil is the result of a collaboration with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and its “Forest Cocoa” project, which was created to foster low-carbon family-based farming, generate social and economic benefits and engage farmers to commit to zero deforestation targets and an agroforestry-based restoration of degraded areas.

“The partnership with Cocoa Life brings a new perspective to expand our efforts. Indeed, the Pará region, which had one of the highest rates of deforestation in Brazil, has the potential to become an example of sustainable development and restoration in the Amazon Rainforest," says Rodrigo Freire, Vice Coordinator of Restoration for TNC in Brazil. “Over the past five years, we have supported the planting of 450 hectares of cocoa agroforestry-system in the Amazon, benefitting over 120 families in the São Félix do Xingu and Tucumã municipalities in southeastern Pará. Our goal is to reach 1,000 families in the next five years."