Empowering African Nations Since 1981
Mars iMPACT
In partnership with Mars, Inc., we are implementing the Mars Partnership for African Cocoa Communities of Tomorrow (iMPACT) project by developing the capacity of rural cocoa farming communities in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire to improve their social, economic and environmental situation and thereby contributing to the development of cocoa farming in West Africa as a profitable, socially rewarding and environmentally sustainable livelihood. We want families of cocoa farming communities to view cocoa farming as an attractive occupation for the coming generations. We target rural communities in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire that rely on cocoa as a means of income and living. The project aims to demonstrate that an integrated approach that includes agriculture, environment, education and health, can lead to distinct changes in income and welfare of rural communities.
The Project is being implemented by a group of development organizations including Africare, Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, the International Cocoa Initiative, the Rainforest Alliance, Sustainable Tree Crops Program and IFESH. The initial phase of this project involves 18 communities in Ghana (in the Wassa Amenfi West and Assin North districts) as well as seven communities in the district of Soubre in the high cocoa producing Bas-Sassandra Region in southwest Côte d'Ivoire.
IFESH implements the educational component of the project which includes functional literacy training for adults and youths, skills training for youths, in-service teacher training, establishing/upgrading educational resource centers, providing equipment and learning materials to schools and kindergartens/pre-schools, and strengthening parent/teacher associations and school management committees.
