"Together, we can build a vibrant community that amplifies voices, drives change, and creates lasting impact for cocoa farmers and the world."
ABOUT
Welcome to Join the Chocolution – a movement dedicated to elevating the voices of cocoa-growing communities and creating a more just, transparent, and sustainable cocoa industry.
At Join the Chocolution, we believe that chocolate should be a symbol of joy, but also of justice. Cocoa farmers around the world, particularly in regions like West Africa and Latin America, face immense challenges, from poverty and low wages to poor working conditions and environmental degradation. These issues are deeply rooted in colonial practices that have shaped the cocoa industry for centuries. We aim to shine a light on these injustices, empower cocoa-growing communities, and create a participatory platform that amplifies their voices, educating consumers in the UK about the true cost of their chocolate.
Our Mission
Our mission is to challenge the status quo in the cocoa industry, addressing the colonial legacies that continue to affect cocoa farmers today. By giving a platform to the farmers who grow the beans that make our chocolate possible, we aim to raise awareness of the struggles they face, advocate for equitable wages, better working conditions, and environmentally sustainable practices, and ultimately transform the cocoa industry for the better.
The most crucial issue we aim to address is the power imbalance in the cocoa industry. Cocoa farming communities are often done to, rather than shared with. Decisions that affect their lives are made without their input, and they are frequently left out of the conversation. Cocoa farmers are the experts of their own lives, yet their voices are often ignored. At Join the Chocolution, we are committed to changing this dynamic by creating spaces where cocoa farmers can share their own stories, provide solutions to the challenges they face, and lead the conversations that impact their future. Solutions must come from those who live the reality – the communities who grow cocoa. Empowering these communities to take control of their narrative and future is essential to building a truly just and sustainable cocoa industry.
Through Join the Chocolution, we hope to create a vibrant community of individuals, businesses, and organizations that stand together for cocoa justice. By working together, we can create a ripple effect that will bring meaningful change, ensuring cocoa farmers are fairly compensated and their stories are heard.
Key Issues We’re Addressing
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Equitable Wages: Cocoa farmers often live below the poverty line, with many receiving far less than they deserve for the cocoa they produce. We aim to raise awareness of the need for equitable wages and to advocate for better compensation for these hardworking communities.
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Child Labor: The cocoa industry is plagued by child labor, where children are often forced to work under dangerous conditions. Our goal is to support initiatives that end child labor and promote education for the youth in cocoa-growing regions.
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Environmental Sustainability: Cocoa farming has led to deforestation and environmental degradation. We’re committed to promoting sustainable farming practices that protect the environment and ensure cocoa can be grown in harmony with nature for generations to come.
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Social Impact: Cocoa-growing communities often face lack of access to education, healthcare, and essential services. We want to empower these communities through funding and partnership, ensuring a brighter future for the people who make chocolate possible.
The Legacy of Colonial Practices in the Cocoa Industry
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The cocoa industry, much like other agricultural sectors, has long been shaped by the exploitation and unequal power dynamics established during colonial times. European powers once controlled cocoa-growing regions, extracting vast wealth from these colonies while leaving behind systems of inequality and dependency.
These colonial practices created a supply chain where cocoa farmers – predominantly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America – were stripped of ownership over their land, labor, and resources. The effects of this exploitation are still evident today:
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Equitable Wages & Exploitation: Cocoa farmers, who work in often hazardous conditions, receive far less than the value of their labor, a direct consequence of colonial-era economic models that prioritized profits over people.
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Land Ownership & Control: Many cocoa farmers still lack control over the land they cultivate, a legacy of colonial land-grabbing that left local communities disenfranchised and economically dependent on external markets.
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Child Labor & Forced Labor: Exploitative labor practices, such as child labor and forced labor, persist in cocoa farming, a direct extension of colonial-era labor systems that viewed human labor as a commodity to be controlled and maximised for profit.
At Join the Chocolution, we are committed to dismantling these structures of inequality by advocating for better working conditions, equitable wages, and sustainable, community-led growth.
We believe that the decolonization of the cocoa industry is not only necessary but urgent for the well-being of farmers and the environment.