KitKat is part of a pioneering program
The Nestlé income accelerator builds on the Nestlé Cocoa Plan, launched in 2009, and more than 15 years of experience supporting cocoa-farming families and the environments in which they operate.
Building on this foundation, the Nestlé income accelerator was launched in 2022 following a successful pilot. Today, the program engages ~45,000 families and will continue to scale. Centered around cocoa-farming families, it aims to help close the living income gap and reduce child labor risks by encouraging change and rewarding positive practices through a combination of cash incentives and training.
By incentivizing actions through mobile money delivered directly in the hands of cocoa-farming families, we saw that we could strengthen farming practices, families and communities. This is what makes this program innovative and pioneering.
Today, KitKat factories in Europe are delivered with cocoa mass made with the beans sourced from farming families participating in the Nestlé income accelerator. This enables the iconic KitKat brand to communicate about this innovative program that has been annually evaluated, since its launch in 2022,by an independent 3rd party, the KIT Institute.
The program focuses on three key areas:
Supporting cocoa-farming families
The Nestlé income accelerator in West Africa helps cocoa-farming families increase their income, plant trees and supports children school enrollment.
For the first two years, families in the program can receive up to €500 annually, split across farm and household activities. Incentives are distributed equally between the two household heads to encourage gender equality, shared financial responsibility and more resilient households. As incomes increase through additional sources and improved cocoa yields, the cash incentive is reduced to €250 per year. According to the KIT Institute report, since 2022, participating households achieved a 20-percentage-point increase in cocoa productivity and a 90 percentage-point increase in cocoa net income (USD) versus the comparison group.
The KIT Institute, the independent organization reporting on the Nestlé income accelerator, stated: “Since 2022, the Nestlé income accelerator has shown sustained impact, driving the adoption of good agricultural practices, increasing cocoa productivity and income, and improving household resilience and well-being, including food security, productive assets, and women’s empowerment.”
Discover how we are helping cocoa-farming families in the latest summary impact report here.
Facilitating tree planting on cocoa farms
The program contributes to the distribution of more than one million forest and fruit trees each year to support biodiversity on cocoa farms.
Cocoa trees don't thrive alone. That's why cocoa-farming families in Côte d'Ivoire receive forest and fruit trees, with support to plant and maintain them. The shade these trees provide helps protect cocoa trees from heat stress and creates better growing conditions. A greater mix of tree species also helps support biodiversity and can provide families with additional fruit and income.
According to the KIT Institute report, 80% of income accelerator households planted new shade trees (forest and fruit trees) during the 2024/2025 season, 22 percentage points higher than the comparison group.
Discover more about forest and fruit tree planting in this article.
Helping children’s school enrollment
The program also helps cocoa-farming families in West Africa enroll children in school and cover school-related expenses.
Through the program, families are incentivized to support regular school attendance and the incentives can help cover the cost of schooling. For the first two years, families in the program can receive up to €500 annually, split across farm and household activities, with incentives distributed equally between the two household heads. When women and men are equally involved in decision-making, families can make more informed choices about their farm and household finances. Women often help ensure that income is invested in areas that benefit the whole family, such as nutritious food, children's education, healthcare and additional sources of income.
Since 2022, school enrollment among participating households has increased by 9 percentage points versus 7 for the comparison group.
School enrollment now remains high and stable at around 90%, with the program showing a positive impact on younger children’s enrollment, a reduction in dropout rates for older children, and overall enhanced well-being through regular school attendance. The program will continue to explore ways to further strengthen children's school enrollment and attendance. (See KIT Institute report p. 81)
The Nestlé income accelerator reflects our ambition to help drive change in cocoa farming beyond our own supply chain. After four years, the independent evaluation and reporting show that this approach is delivering impact, although not uniformly and with room for further improvement, confirming that combining practices, training and targeted incentives can make a meaningful difference.
Discover more about the Nestlé income accelerator in the latest progress report summary and the KIT institute report