Two Continents, Same Story: The Invisible Women Behind Our Ancient Food Systems

Fair Trade Fortnight 2025 is being celebrated from (4-17 August) is a global campaign highlighting ethical chocolate sourcing practices. This year's theme, "The True Cost of Our Choices," couldn't be more relevant for sustainable chocolate brands Australia - and while researching to write a blog around this campaign, I discovered something that stopped me in my tracks.

Women do 70% of the work on cacao farms in West Africa but receive only 20% of the income. Women cacao farmers earn as little as 50 cents AUD per day while their male counterparts earn $2.30 AUD.

As an Aboriginal woman in Australia's native botanical industry, this felt devastatingly familiar.

The Global Crisis of Invisible Women in Fair Trade Chocolate Australia

Despite our $300+ million Australian bushfood industry being built on Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property, we represent less than 2% participation in the industry. Indigenous women are even more underrepresented yet we are the matriarchal holders of these ancient plant knowledge systems - but we remain the invisible voices in this Australian supply chain.

This pattern of exclusion echoes globally in Ghana and Ivory Coast, where despite women forming 68% of the cacao labour force, they remain economically excluded from an industry reliant on their skills and hard work.

We are the invisible women - both here and in West Africa. This parallel isn't coincidental. It's systemic.

The True Cost of Our Choices: Ethical Chocolate Sourcing Reality

This year's Fair Trade Fortnight 2025 theme, "The True Cost of Our Choices," couldn't be more relevant for mindful chocolate consumption. While cacao prices have surged 136% since 2022, creating record profits for commodity traders, the farmers - especially women cacao farmers - remain trapped in poverty. 

Here's the shocking reality:

🍫 Despite increasing cacao prices, 80% of farming families don't earn a living income because farmers receive less than 7% of the value per tonne of their cacao crops

🍫 Women, who perform 70% of the work on cacao farms, face even greater challenges - earning only 20% of farm income while owning just 2% to 25% of the land

🍫 Living Income Benchmarks Africa (2024-2025): A median family of 8 needs $11,470 AUD per year; Current average: Only $7,580 AUD per year - a massive shortfall

🍫 Government-controlled pricing mechanisms prevent farmers from benefiting from price increases, such as we've been experiencing over the past two years

Meanwhile, the supply chain faces devastating challenges beyond price:

🌱 Modern slavery and child labour remain widespread on cacao farms

🌱 Cacao cultivation drives 37% of forest loss in protected areas in Ivory Coast

🌱 70% of Ivory Coast's illegal deforestation is cacao-related

🌱 Climate change threatens up to 50% of current cacao-growing areas

Why Fair Trade Chocolate Australia Is About More Than Price

At Chocolate On Purpose®, we use Fair Trade certified Belgian chocolate specifically because it addresses the importance of the Living Income issue. However this alone does not address the more complex issues in the supply chain, and that's where our partnership with Cocoa Horizons demonstrates that wholistically helping cacao farmers demands systemic empowerment.

We partner with the Cocoa Horizons Plus program, that provides fully segregated and traceable cacao beans, specifically designed to support farmers in achieving a living income. This initiative allows us to directly trace our chocolate back to select farming communities growing our chocolate, allowing for complete traceability from farm to finished product, demonstrating our commitment to sustainability and farmer prosperity. 

We also support women cacao farmers across Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Ecuador. This number has grown by 38% year-on-year, reaching 51,101 women farmers by 2021-22, representing one-third of all Cocoa Horizons participants.

Real Empowerment in Action through Cocoa Horizons programs:

✅ Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) funded through Fair Trade Premium

✅ Field ownership programs enabling women to "take back their fields" previously managed by husbands

✅ Leadership training building "extraordinary self-confidence" in women cacao farmers

✅ Coaching opportunities allowing women to become Community leaders

✅ Environmental protection standards that combat deforestation

✅ Child labour monitoring and prevention programmes

This comprehensive approach tackles the root causes of inequality, not just the symptoms.

The Australian Connection: Indigenous Fair Trade Business

Our commitment to invisible women extends on our own shores. Through our 'Ngunggilanha'~ reciprocity project, we're employing Aboriginal women aged 45+ - to revive matriarchal wisdom in the native botanical space, and because this demographic of all Australian women is the fastest-growing demographic at risk of social isolation and homelessness.

We're building a First Nations-led supply chain for native botanicals, working to increase Aboriginal representation from less than 2% to meaningful participation in an industry built on our Cultural and Intellectual Property.

Every Chocolate On Purpose® product contains native botanicals sourced from Indigenous growers wherever possible:

🌿 Finger Lime (Gulalung)

🌿 Davidson Plum (Ooray)

🌿 Riberry (Daguba)

🌿 Macadamia Nuts (Boombera)

A Cultural Bridge Across Continents: Sustainable Chocolate Brands Australia

The connection between supporting Indigenous women cacao farmers globally and our mission to employ Aboriginal women 45+ locally isn't coincidental - it's intentional. Both groups are the traditional knowledge holders whose wisdom built entire industries, yet both remain economically excluded from the value they create.

When we support women farmers in Ghana and the Ivory Coast who are learning to reclaim their fields, we're fighting the same battle as Aboriginal women in Australia who are reclaiming their place in the native botanical industry. It's about economic justice, Cultural preservation, and ensuring that the people whose knowledge creates value actually benefit from it.

Mindful Chocolate Consumption in Action

When cacao prices are volatile and farmers suffer, choosing quality chocolate that ensures comprehensive empowerment becomes an act of resistance. We're not asking you to eat more chocolate - we're asking you to make your indulgence meaningful by buying the 'treat that's better for you' from Chocolate On Purpose®. Our chocolate demonstrates Reconciliation you can taste, Impact you can measure, Chocolate you'll savour.

Every 100g bag of our Mindful Indulgence chocolate represents:

🌟 Support for over 39,000 women cacao farmers through certified ethical chocolate sourcing

🌟 Investment in Village Savings and Loan Associations that build financial independence

🌟 Empowerment of Aboriginal women's economic participation

🌟 Sustainable farming practices that protect forests

🌟 Cultural knowledge preservation and transfer

🌟 A supply chain free from modern slavery

The Ripple Effect of Systemic Change

This isn't just about paying farmers more - it's about transforming entire systems. When women cacao farmers can access credit through VSLAs, they invest in their children's education. When they reclaim field ownership, they implement sustainable practices. When they become Community leaders, they break cycles of exclusion for the next generation.

The same transformation happens here in Australia when Aboriginal women reclaim their place as traditional plant knowledge holders, creating pathways for economic self-determination that benefit entire Communities.

The Choice Is Yours: Fair Trade Fortnight 2025

This Fair Trade Fortnight 2025, consider the true cost of your choices. When you choose Chocolate On Purpose®, you're not just buying chocolate - you're investing in:

🤝 Global justice for invisible women cacao farmers

🤝 Local empowerment for Aboriginal women and growers

🤝 Systemic change that goes beyond fair prices to comprehensive empowerment

🤝 Cultural preservation of Indigenous plant knowledge

🤝 Mindful consumption that makes every indulgence count

Ready to make your chocolate choice count? You can even win a full Cafe Experience package when you share how you have made the switch to a Fair Trade Supplier... pick us please... with Fair Trade Australia New Zealand on their Instagram page!!

SHOP MINDFUL INDULGENCE COLLECTION →
Available in 7 flavours featuring native Australian botanicals, all made with Fair Trade certified Belgian chocolate and supporting women farmers globally and locally.

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