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Active · Eastern Region, Ghana

Ending child labor in Ghana’s cocoa communities

Moving children from cocoa fields into classrooms, through education, healthcare, economic support, and direct community investment.

Students and community members seated together at a gathering in a Ghanaian village5-year minimum commitment
Direct beneficiaries
Cocoa-farming communities
5-YearMinimum commitment
Farmers and students surveyed

1.56 million children in cocoa fields

Child labor remains one of the most pressing challenges facing Ghana’s cocoa sector. Despite decades of progress, systemic poverty, volatile cocoa prices, and limited access to essential services continue to force children into hazardous work.

The situation is particularly acute during peak harvest seasons, when household labor demand spikes and families are left with few alternatives but to rely on their children. This work includes carrying heavy loads, using sharp tools like machetes, and being exposed to harmful agrochemicals, all of which have long-term consequences for children’s health, education, and development.

1.56MChildren engaged in child labor across Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire's cocoa-growing regions
45%Of agricultural households in Ghana's cocoa communities report child labor involvement
40%+Of those children engage in hazardous tasks

Eastern Region, Ghana

Beast Philanthropy is working in Ghana’s Eastern Region, approximately two hours from Accra, across 11 cocoa-farming communities. Direct engagement has already begun in seven of those communities, with work progressively expanding to the remaining four.

The work is anchored by a deep partnership with the West Akyem Cooperative Union, which represents and organizes farmers across these communities.

Cocoa-farming community in Ghana
Where we work

A two-pillar approach

Child labor cannot be eliminated through charity alone, nor through market-based solutions in isolation.

It requires a holistic approach that simultaneously reduces household vulnerability and builds market incentives for responsible sourcing.

Beast Philanthropy’s Ghana program operates on two pillars at once, in an intentional, staggered rollout.

Community Development

Community Development

Addressing the root causes

Reducing household vulnerability so families are not forced to rely on children's labor.

Education
Rehabilitating and rebuilding schools, supplying uniforms and materials, running school feeding programs to boost attendance and reduce dropout rates
Clean Water & Sanitation (WASH)
Installing boreholes, rainwater catchment systems, and hand-washing stations at schools and community levels. Building latrines with a focus on menstrual hygiene facilities
Food Security
Distributing seeds and tools, training farmers to improve yields and reduce seasonal hunger
Health & Nutrition
Providing health education, menstrual health training for girls, and supplying sanitary pads in schools to reduce absenteeism among adolescent girls
Sustainable Income
Connecting households to Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) and income-generating activities, including soap-making, poultry rearing, and small-scale enterprises
Ethical Sourcing

Ethical Sourcing

Building a replicable model

Demonstrating that responsible practices can be commercially viable, building a model designed to be replicated across the cocoa industry.

Fairtrade Certification
Sourcing on Fairtrade terms, with premiums supporting direct farmer payments and community priorities including schools, health services, and infrastructure.
Living Income Reference Price
The model commits to the Living Income Reference Price (LIRP) so farmers earn predictable, sustainable income rather than being exposed to market volatility.
Child Labor Monitoring & Remediation (CLMRS)
A comprehensive, data-driven system. Local field agents conduct guardian and child interviews privately. Cases are verified, remediation plans are developed, and follow-up visits occur on an ongoing basis, multiple times per year.*
Multi-Year Contracts
Designed to give farmers stability and encourage long-term planning.
Community Worker Groups
Organizing protected adult labor as a safe alternative to children's work during peak harvest periods.

*Monitoring activities are conducted in accordance with the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) CLMRS manual and toolkit. ICI is responsible for training CLMRS field agents on the CLMRS methodology and tools and provides technical support for data analysis and interpretation.

Where things stand

The model is in motion. Across communities in Ghana, schools are being rebuilt, children are being monitored, and families are building income. Here's where things stand today.

2025–2030: A five-year plan for sustainability

  1. Live now

    We start by listening

    Before any talk of cocoa, we partner with a community and its chiefs, teachers, women's leaders, and farmers. Then poverty relief and child-labor remediation begin hand in hand: schools, clean water, and kitchens go in while every child is benchmarked, monitored, and independently verified.
  2. Next

    Making it hold

    Then we make it last. Savings groups, poultry, and farms grow into income families can count on, so children stay out of the fields and stay out, confirmed over repeat visits, not a single check. Communities begin joining the cocoa supply chain as Fairtrade partners, with a living-income commitment.
  3. Ahead

    Built to outlast us

    Then we step back. Not a handover, because we never owned it alone, but a deliberate move into the background as the community and cooperative take the work on fully. Programs run on local leadership and local income, designed to hold long after we step away.

The communities

Pick a community to see what we found on day one and where its first year is designed to land.

Live & Ongoing

Began September 2025 · running now. The first five communities. The year-one build, school, borehole, kitchen, latrines, handwashing, is largely in place, and savings groups, feeding, and monitoring are live.

Lighting Up

Ramping from September 2026 · into year two. The next four communities. Just coming online, full rollout starts at the end of year one and runs into year two. Early school feeding is already live in two of them.

On the Horizon

Timing to be confirmed · possibly from September 2027. The final two communities are both without schools of their own, with children walking to neighboring villages. Baseline conditions are known; programs are not yet scheduled.

Live & Ongoing

Community 1

Eastern Region, Ghana · the hub · Pop ~4,600 · Child labor: High

Achieved Live nowPlanned Not yet delivered
AreaDay one, what we foundBY YEAR ONE (September 2026)
EducationSchool in disrepairLiveSchool rebuilt; teacher housing
Water & SanitationNo working latrines; no clean water on siteLiveBorehole, latrines, handwashing stations
Food SecurityNo kitchen, no feeding programLiveKitchen + daily meals; community farm
Sustainable IncomeNo long-term cocoa partner, no Fairtrade PremiumsLiveWomen's savings group + commercial farm + market
Monitoring (CLMRS)NoneLiveLive and independently verified

“Day one” = each community’s starting conditions. “By year one” = where that first year is designed to land. The three groups start at different times, so year one falls on a different date for each. Child-labor band (High · Very High · Extreme) is a severity guide relative to the regional norm, not a published figure.

An ethical, child-labor-free cocoa supply chain

The goal is straightforward: an environment where children are in school, families are thriving, and cocoa is produced with dignity and fairness. Over time, the dual-pillar strategy is designed to create a systemic shift in cocoa communities, one where child labor becomes the exception rather than the norm.

Beast Philanthropy is committed to a minimum five-year program, with the intention of establishing a long-term presence to sustain and deepen impact over time.

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