Whether we are men or
women we are equal... for
me Women Grow Together
means fellowship, knowledge,
empowerment, and strong
women.
Eliana Cirino
Women Grow Together
Expanding the Women Grow Together
Program at Mars La Chola
In 2020, inspired by Full Potential, driven by our
commitment to gender equality and concerned
by the pandemic's widening gender gap, we
initiated efforts to support women in rural Ecuador
near Mars La Chola, our commercial and research
farm. Our approach began with encouraging
more women to join our workforce during peak
harvest periods.
In 2021, we forged a partnership with Fundación
Acción Solidaria, a local NGO specializing in human
capital. The Women Grow Together (WGT) program
was launched with the goal of fostering diversity
and inclusivity at Mars La Chola Farm.
In 2022, we expanded our program by introducing
new technical content, including post-harvest
aspects, and created a dedicated class for
practicing various cutting techniques. Furthermore,
we enhanced participant opportunities by forming
a partnership with another local farm. Currently
we have 9 participants in the program who will
graduate by the end of September 2023. This will
bring the total to almost 30 women engaged
in training and capacity-building initiatives,
aiming to enhance their access to cocoa sector
employment opportunities. We successfully
accomplished our objective to allocate 50% of our
temporary harvester positions to women in 2023.
Out of the 15 temporary workers who joined, seven
were women from the WGT program, and of those
seven, three are currently employed on the farm.
Dessy Kurwiany Ukar
Interim CEO
Save the Children Indonesia
Our experience in smallholder farming communities has
revealed that women actively participate in agricultural
work, but they often face limited access to leadership
roles and economic development opportunities. By
providing them with a level playing field, we can
unleash their full potential and bring about
exponential benefits for both them and their
households. This, in turn, will contribute to better
health, education, and security for their children.
GrowHer: Kakao - Empowering Indonesian
Women Leaders in Agriculture
The "GrowHer: Kakao" project, a winner of the
German Agency for International Cooperation's
(GIZ) Feminist and Fair competition in 2022, is
another example of our approach to gender
equality. The GrowHer: Kakao project empowers
women as leaders in agriculture, ensuring their
voices are represented and heard in crucial business
decisions, such as adoption of climate smart
practices and crop diversification.
This initiative, running from 2023 to 2025, is led
by a consortium including Grow Asia, Mars, Save
the Children, and Partnership for Sustainable
Agriculture Indonesia (PISAgro), with GIZ's support.
The project targets 30 communities in South
Sulawesi, Indonesia, supporting around 4,000
women in the Cacao value chain and aiming
to enhance their participation and access to
resources. These particular villages were selected,
due to Mars' existing programs in the area,
enabling us to have well-established connections
with farming households and key stakeholders,
including local officials, which we can leverage. The
program employs locally sustainable interventions,
emphasizing capacity building, including financial
literacy, community-based planning, and
entrepreneurship training, climate-smart practices,
and gender-transformative policies.
MARS | COCOA FOR GENERATIONS | 2022 ANNUAL REPORT | PAGE 12
ADVANCING RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS | UNLOCKING OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN