The Hershey Company recognizes that progress in addressing the challenges and opportunities facing the cocoa sector today requires industry to work together on a pre-competitive basis.

Along with more than 60 other chocolate and cocoa companies from around the world, we actively support the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) and its efforts to improve cocoa sustainability. The Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP) – administered by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and funded by World Cocoa Foundation members, USAID and West African Governments – helps West African farmers realize higher prices for their cocoa harvests by selling collectively.

The Farmer Field School Program, also part of STCP, helps small cocoa farmers raise their family incomes substantially. These "schools without walls” train cocoa farmers how to increase productivity, reduce crop loss and diversify the crops they grow. In Cameroon, farmers participating in these programs saw their incomes increase by 55% in 2004.

Our company joined the global cocoa and chocolate industry in signing a congressionally sponsored protocol designed to ensure that children are not harmed in cocoa farming. Working through this framework, the global industry has developed and is implementing a certification system to report on farm labor conditions and ensure that corrective action is taken when needed. Through the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), a foundation established as part of the protocol, The Hershey Company and other industry leaders have joined with labor unions, key NGOs and labor activists to drive positive and lasting change. ICI works to raise farm family and community awareness of the need for responsible labor practices, promote and ensure education provision, build local capacity and provide a response where children are found to be exploited.