A cocoa farmer's life in Ghana

Introduction

Cocoa is the essential ingredient in many of the world's most loved products. It's production mainly takes place in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. But how much do we actually know about this sector, and the lives of the farmers producing it?

In 2016, the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) initiated a study into the lives of approximately 3000 randomly selected farmer households in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. This resulted in a dataset which can help demystify the cocoa sector in these countries.

This interactive website aims to provide visitors with the tools to explore this data themselves. By providing you with multiple filter options and comparative functions you can see what influences a farmers income and food security.

For demonstration purposes we decided to focus on the data from Ghana, which provided us with 1560 different households to explore.

Farmer

Filter options #1

The KIT dataset provided us with a lot of different information about the farmer households. We selected a few to explore by filtering their characteristics. By default all households are selected, but by filtering options you can see the pool of households shrink or grow.

Gender

Male

Female

Level of education

Select education levelAnyNo formal education completedPrimary / middle / high schoolCollege / University / Other

Certified?

Certification

A certified farmer utilizes better farming methods and has better working conditions. Being a certified farmer can also mean better relationships with suppliers and thus a more secure future.

i

Yes

No

Household size

A household size does not necessarily mean family size in Ghana .A household size can be defined by different people living together under one roof, usually working together as a group, and therefore can vary. In this case that means 1 to 17 household members. Use the slider to a range of the household size.

Select household size

Currently selects everything between: 1 & 17

Land composition

Filter options #2

Different farmers have different plots of land varying in size, this can have an impact on their production and livelihood.

In Ghana, the most important crop is cocoa, but many of them also produce a secondary crop.

Use the dropdown menu to select the second most important crop and the slider to adjust the size of the land.

Second important crop

Select second most important cropAnyAvocadoBananasSoya BeansBeansCabbagesCarrotsCashewsCassavaChiliCocoaCoconutCocoyamCoffeeCourgetteCottonCow peaEggplantFodderGarlicGingerGroundnutsLemonLimeMaizeMangoMilletOkraOnionsOrangesPalmPapayaPeasPeppersPineapplePlantainIrish potatoSweet potatoRiceRubberSpinachSorghumShea nutSugar caneTangerineTomatoesWatermelonYamOtherNone

Land size in Ha

Currently selects everything between: 0 & 20

Median landsisze: 2.43 Ha

based on 1560 farmers

Based on 1560 farmers

Everytime you specify a choice, we will show you how many farmers the data is based on. Keep this in mind when looking at the data, as sometimes the data might be based on a very small selection of farmers, and thus the results might not be reliable.

i

Use of plant nutrients & pesticides

Result #1

Income composition

Result #2

The KIT data provides insight in what makes up a farmers income. We boiled it down to 5 categories which each represent a share of their complete income.

You can change your already picked filter choices at any time in the sidebar on the left.

Food security

Result #3

Summary

To conclude the comparison, we collected information about the actual amount of money made by the selection of farmer households. Not every farmer could provide an accurate amount, so the pool of households is somewhat smaller than in previous results, so keep this in mind when viewing the chart.