Outline of an African woman with a headscarf carrying cocoa pods in a wicker basket

Community

Supporting Cocoa Farming Communities

Through our impact programs, AWA by Magnum and Vanilla for Change, we're working on initiatives that bring us closer to the people who grow our quality ingredients and to socially and economically empowering women in our cocoa farming communities.

AWA by Magnum

Women play a vital role in our cocoa farming communities in Côte d'Ivoire. That’s why we launched AWA by Magnum, our biggest social initiative to date that works to empower women in the cocoa farming communities in Côte d'Ivoire both socially and economically. Through funding and training, we’re helping to monetize their passions which in turn enables them to diversify their income. Because by investing in women, we’re also investing in their families and communities.

Supporting our cocoa farmers

With our cocoa supply partners, we collaborated with NGOs, including CARE International and 100WEEKS, to create a social impact program that supports women with the education, skills and funding to set up their own or shared businesses.

Our 2022 graduates show the program worked – 56% have started their own business, 74% are expanding existing businesses and 95% now have electricity in their own homes. On top of having the tools to prosper as entrepreneurs, women in the program reported greater levels of self-confidence, which has led to greater engagement in their community and better relationships within their household.

Group of African Women smiling with Fashion Designer Rebecca Zoro in front of orange wall

An African woman introducing herself for a video

The work we are doing is inspiring future generations. The financial help you have brought to us has been life changing, but really the biggest success for us is being able to see our children succeed in school.

Sawadogo Ramata, an AWA by Magnum graduate.

Magnum's Vanilla for Change

To ensure the decadent flavor of our ice creams, we source the highest quality vanilla extract from Madagascar. Together with Symrise, our main vanilla supplier, and Save The Children, we created Vanilla for Change in 2016, an initiative to help improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and empower vulnerable children and families. The initiative has currently reached 60,000 people and every village within our supply chain in Madagascar.

Thanks to the Vanilla for Change program, 83% of households felt better enabled to cater for the needs of their children, with evidence of positive behavior change relating to children’s rights and almost 2,000 young people are actively planning for their future. Plus, 66% of farmers increased their annual income through diversification, while 75% of farmers saw improved living standards. By creating these non-profit projects in Madagascar, we’re helping to empower people across our vanilla supply chain.

Female vanilla farmer inspecting ripening vanilla pods on a branch.

Forests for the future

We have helped protect and restore nature in Côte d'Ivoire – the nation that supplies the majority of our cocoa, and one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet. We initiated a tree planting remediation program to help with the protection and restoration of their extensive forest habitat.

Our reforestation initative distributed and planted 286,277 multi-purpose trees for 2,048 farmers to use on their farms. We committed to distribute and plant 100K trees on-farm per year and 10K off-farm per year from 2023 to 2025, totalling 330K extra trees – that’s enough to cover an area the size of Paris.

Ivorian Fashion Designer Rebecca Zoro on a cocoa farm with women from the farming community

What's next for our communities?

We’ve made great strides with our AWA Program and will have provided social and economic support to 3,200 women by the end of 2023. Our goal is to reach 5,000 women and their cocoa farming communities by 2025.