Case Study: Fairtrade scales cocoa traceability and data management with Farmforce

Scaling up Fairtrade Cocoa Traceability and Data Management to 25 Coops in Côte d’Ivoire

Fairtrade, an organization that certifies cocoa and other products to improve farmers' livelihoods, faced a challenge in getting their certified cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire to properly adopt a digital Internal Management System (IMS). While the Farmforce Origin system was required for traceability, coops were not integrating it, still relying on spreadsheets and paper, and failing to analyze the data they collected for various third parties. They partnered with the vendor Farmforce to implement a solution.

Farmforce provided its supply chain management software as a service (SaaS) in an initial pilot with three coops. The solution included comprehensive training, the establishment of local "superusers," and ongoing support. This successful pilot was scaled up to 25 cooperatives. The Farmforce system gave coops ownership of their data, improved traceability, and provided the digital capacity to meet new regulatory demands. The project trained nearly 400 people, enhancing efficiency and preparing the cooperatives for long-term growth and risk management.

Fairtrade

Jon Walker

Senior Advisor for Cocoa