Tony’s Open Chain: Farmer Wellbeing Assessment
Tony’s Open Chain works with cocoa farmers and cooperatives across Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, built around five sourcing principles: traceable beans, higher prices, long-term partnerships, strong farmer organisations, and improved quality and productivity. Alongside the sourcing model it supports farmers through the Farm Transformation Package (FTP), financial management training, carbon insetting, health insurance and community development projects.
Between them, these programmes aim at something broader than income. So Tony’s Open Chain asked us to test an approach to measuring farmer wellbeing that goes beyond living income measurement alone, using our Farmer Thriving Index. It assesses three dimensions: living standards, resilience and farming outlook.
We spoke to 1,200 farmers across 14 cooperatives, split roughly evenly between FTP and non-FTP participants so the two groups could be compared. Because farmers don’t always distinguish Tony’s Open Chain programmes from other cooperative services, these findings reflect the impact of the cooperative overall. This is a baseline; a follow-up will show how outcomes evolve and whether differences emerge between the two groups.
1,200
14
3
Top actionable insights
Everyday basics are mostly covered. Healthcare is where the gap opens
Around 7 in 10 farmers have access to sanitation, cover all their education costs, never skip a meal, and say their home withstands climate shocks. Only 21% could cover a medical bill without major difficulty. Across all eight measures, just 6% report the strongest outcome on every one, which shows how rarely a decent standard of living arrives in full.
Most farmers have faced a shock. Few have what they’d need to face the next one
Three-quarters experienced a climate shock in the past two years, most often pests or farm disease, and only half feel prepared for another. Savings offer limited cover: 3 in 10 saved in most months over the past year, and 3 in 10 could not save at all. Access to the services that would help is uneven. Most farmers report reliable electricity and agricultural extension, far fewer have weather information (38%), credit (16%) or crop insurance (5%).
Farmers stay committed to cocoa on economics that don’t reliably pay
Nearly 4 in 10 farmers did not earn a profit last year, and fewer than half rate this season’s price as good. Commitment holds anyway: 94% expect to still be growing cocoa in 5 to 10 years, two-thirds are very confident they can, and more than two-thirds plan to increase their investment next season. Around half want their children to continue, most often to preserve the family legacy. Those who don’t point to educational aspirations and the physical demands of the work.
The cooperative is where farmers feel the difference
79% say their quality of life has improved because of their cooperative, with 24% reporting a significant improvement. They point most often to higher agricultural productivity (49%) and greater financial stability (28%). The cooperative’s role is clearest in information: 84% accessed information and advisory services through it in the past year, and only 36% say they could get that elsewhere.
FTP and non-FTP farmers look similar at baseline, except on access
Both groups report similar outcomes across most wellbeing measures, which is what you’d expect this early in the programme. The clearest differences are in access to services: FTP farmers are more likely to report access to information, inputs, additional services and finance. The follow-up will show whether that access translates into better outcomes.