Finance & Investment Organizational Governance

Magnum Aiming to Enhance Financial Opportunities for 5K Female Cocoa Farmers by 2025

The ice cream brand aims to help 5,000 female cocoa farmers in Côte D'Ivoire achieve financial stability and diversify their incomes, for greater prosperity in the cocoa-farming offseason, by 2025.

Published 54 years ago | About a 4 minute read

Image: Rainforest Alliance/Facebook

Today, Magnum ice cream launched AWA by Magnum — a program to empower 5,000 female cocoa farmers socially and economically by 2025. By setting women up with direct cash transfers and the skills to diversify their income, Magnum aims to help them financially stabilize their families and build their personal business ambitions for greater prosperity in the off-peak cocoa-farming season.

2025 Cocoa Strategy

This campaign forms part of Magnum’s 2025 Cocoa Strategy to support the cocoa-farming community in Côte d'Ivoire, where Magnum sources much of its cocoa. Magnum has committed to invest €25M to fund its wider cocoa impact programs.

Since 2012, Magnum has invested €80M into making its cocoa supply more sustainable — including the traceability and segregation of its cocoa beans — to ensure the cocoa beans used in Magnum’s classic, almond and white chocolate products in Europe are 100 percent traceable to certified farmer groups. Doing so helps Magnum identify the cocoa communities who would most benefit from its Impact Programs.

Magnum joins a growing number of companies working to enhance the wellbeing and sustainability of their suppliers through efforts to increase financial literacy, access, and digital inclusion; and offering living wages and income-diversification programs. Magnum’s 2025 Cocoa Strategy aims to improve the lives of its direct cocoa suppliers through tailored impact programs with three key aims:

increase cocoa farmers’ financial security;
eliminate child labor; and
halt deforestation.

Magnum has worked in collaboration with NGOs including financial training nonprofit 100WEEKS and humanitarian aid organization CARE International to bring its female-focused impact programs to life. Additionally, 200 female cocoa farmers received funds from Pleasure Imagined in 2020 and started using the money for craft-led income-diversification opportunities.

“Since 2012, we have invested €80M in making Magnum’s supply chains sustainable. This has also enabled us to create and implement a range of impact programs to protect and elevate cocoa and the communities that produce it,” a spokesperson for Magnum said in a statement. “Through AWA by Magnum, we are putting additional focus on supporting female cocoa farmers as we know women are at the heart of many families and communities.

“Due to the seasonality of cocoa farming, the schemes have supported women in setting up additional income streams for the 6-month off-season from cocoa farming, enabling them to follow their true interests. This paves the way for the future of AWA and showcases the long-standing support from Magnum towards the women in cocoa-farming communities in Côte d’Ivoire. Data from our research — which surveyed the women who have already begun the program with 100WEEKS — shows women sleep better, have greater average savings per week and are overall happier. This gives us great confidence that we are creating meaningful impact through our programs and paves the way to scale up the program by 2025.”

AWA

To shine a light on the female cocoa-farming community and the women who have been part of Magnum’s Impact Programs to date, Magnum is launching AWA — the brand’s first digital avatar — an amalgam made from the profiles and faces of 128 Ivorian female cocoa farmers, who benefit from Magnum’s empowerment program.

Going live on International Women’s Day (8 March 2022), AWA will model a limited-edition fashion collection created in partnership with Ivorian fashion designer Rebecca Zoro, using local materials and inspired by her heritage and culture. Over the past 2 years, Zoro has supported Magnum’s on-the-ground work — sharing guidance on business and entrepreneurial skills to cocoa farmers as well as practical advice on honing their income-generating craft skills, such as sewing.

The 5-piece collection is available for purchase from on 8th March 2022 via the AWA by Magnum online store. Funds generated from the sale of the collection will help raise additional funds for tailored impact programs led by Magnum in Côte d’Ivoire.

“AWA by Magnum is a dream come true because it is the synergy between the young stylist that I am, the commitment of the women I met and the talent of our local artisans,” Zoro said. “I am so excited to present AWA on such a global platform and proud to know that the benefits will go to farming communities through Magnum's cocoa program that supports them.”