FAQ
Last Updated on 27 March 2012
How many smallholders are there worldwide producing cocoa? What proportion of cocoa worldwide is produced by smallholders?
Proportion of cocoa worldwide produced by smallholders: 'Almost 90% of production comes from smallholdings under 5 hectares.'
Reference:
de Lattre-Gasquet, M., Despréaux, D., Barel, M., Prospective de la filière du cacao. (Prospective study of the cocoa commodity chain) Plantations, Recherche, Développement, 5 (6): 423- 434, November-December 1998.
Smallholders involved in cocoa, ICCO global estimates:
Smallholding averages 3 hectares (smallholding is usually defined as a farm holding of less than 10 hectares, range 2ha to 5ha)
2.5 million smallholders (could be up to 3 million, including those for whom cocoa is not the main activity)
Smallholder yields: Average 350kg/hectare (ranges from 200kg in Ecuador to 1,500kg for smallholders in Sulawesi, Indonesia. (Ghana 300kg, Cote d'Ivoire 450kg).
| Country/Region | Total number of workers (million) |
| World | 14.00 |
| Africa | 10.50 |
| Cameroon | 1.60 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 3.60 |
| Ghana | 3.20 |
| Nigeria | 1.20 |
| Sierra Leone | 0.38 |
| Togo | 0.40 |
| Others | 0.12 |
| Americas | 1.39 |
| Brazil | 0.21 |
| Colombia | 0.28 |
| Dominican Republic | 0.20 |
| Ecuador | 0.28 |
| Venezuela | 0.18 |
| Others | 0.25 |
| Asia and Oceania | 2.11 |
| Indonesia | 1.60 |
| Malaysia | 0.31 |
| Papua New Guinea | 0.10 |
| Others | 0.10 |
Reference: ICCO