The basis of this is multi-year support of selected farmer groups. To foster farm investment in productivity and resilience, we finance the direct provision of cash transfers to cocoa farming households. The financial incentives as part of the Living Income Program are structured to enable Good Farming Practices,² such as pruning cocoa trees to improve yields.
As part of our Living Income Program, we additionally support direct cash transfers for enrolling children in schools to reduce the risk of child labor.
These efforts build on our commitment to maintain 100% of our cocoa volume from child labor risk countries as covered by a Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS)³ or another due diligence system that is being rolled out or is implemented, with Mass Balance⁴ included, annually between 2026 and 2030.
1 A Living Income Program is any project or program explicitly designed with the goal of helping close the living income gap of participants.
2 Good Farming Practices may include: Applying Good Agricultural Practices (GAP): these are agricultural methods that include pruning, pest and disease management, weed management, shade management, and harvest management that are intended to improve cocoa tree health and cocoa production while maintaining ecosystem services such as soil health; Agroforestry; Increasing the efficiency of production methods, including labor allocation, input management, and supporting the adherence to rules and guidance concerning the use of potentially harmful chemicals; Diversifying the farming system by cultivating more than cocoa to enhance resilience of the farmer; Working towards production that does not involve the clearing of forests.
3 A CLMRS is a means of targeting prevention, mitigation, and remediation assistance to children involved in, or at risk of, child labor, as well as to their families and communities. At Lindt & Sprüngli, the implementation of the CLMRS as part of the Farming Program is defined by its CLMRS Implementation Guidance, which we share with our suppliers. At Lindt & Sprüngli, the CLMRS offers a framework for child labor risk assessments, preventive interventions for protecting children’s rights, child labor identification, child labor remediation, and activity tracking and reporting.
4 Mass Balance: Physical mixture of materials with and without sustainability characteristics where the volume of sustainably produced materials corresponds to the volume purchased and reported.