The KitKat® Breaks FOR GOOD initiative is a program aimed at creating positive change through our chocolate breaks. It focuses on supporting cocoa-farming families by enhancing their livelihoods, promoting biodiversity, and contributing to community development.

Have a Break for Good

To make your favourite KitKat even better, we have set ourselves the mission to go further with our support of cocoa farmers, their families, and the local environment too. That’s what the innovative income accelerator program is all about. This program takes an innovative family-centred approach that aims to close the living income gap and improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers within our supply chain.

Our journey began back in 2009 when the Nestlé Cocoa Plan was born, and we have learnt a lot along the way (you can find out more about the Nestlé Cocoa Plan here!). The income accelerator program builds on these learnings and focuses on initiatives that have already been proven to make a difference to cocoa-farming families’ lives. The program is built and designed to encourage changes in behaviour and reward positive practices – both within the home and on the farm. It incentivizes these families to take actions that improve cocoa productivity, plant forest and fruit trees, diversify their income and support kids’ education. Our program takes the unique approach of putting the families at the very heart of it, rather than just the individual farmers. By looking at the family, we’re placing greater value on women as agents for positive change.

Just like the four fingers of a KitKat, we have four pillars that bring this program to life. These pillars are based around four positive actions we incentivize cocoa-farming families to take. If all are achieved, cocoa-farming families can earn up to 500 euros in extra income a year in the first two years:

• Helping their children, aged 6 – 16, with schooling
• Improving the way farming is done, such as by effectively pruning trees, to increase crop productivity  
• Planting forest and fruit trees on cocoa farms.This provides much-needed shade for the cocoa, helping resist the impact of climate change and supports biodiversity and potentially adds income for the farmers  
• Empowering women to start businesses and diversify sources of income

These incentives in our income accelerator program aim to further secure cocoa-farming families’ well-being and are paid out equally between both heads of the household, directly into their hands via mobile payment. And these incentives are regardless of farm size, so even those with the smallest of farms can earn incentives, ensuring that no farmer is left behind. This support is given in addition to the Nestlé Cocoa Plan and the premium paid for certified Rainforest Alliance cocoa

So far, the program has been rolled out to 10,000 cocoa-farming families (and counting) in Côte d’Ivoire. It doesn’t stop there though! This is a step on the road to expand the program’s reach first in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana and then aiming to reach 160,000 cocoa-farming families in our supply chain by 2030.

Your break is helping build more resilient* cocoa farms.

So far, the program has reached 30 000 cocoa-farming families in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, moving to 50 000 families by 2026 with the ambition to reach an estimated 160 000 by 2030. More information is available in the latest progress report summary of the Nestlé income accelerator program.

*Resilience is defined as the ability to adapt and recover from adversities – such as poor agroclimatic conditions, volatile cocoa prices, and rising living costs.

Your break is part of an innovative program in West Africa that supports cocoa-farming families by increasing their incomes, planting trees, and helping kids into school.

We’re helping lay the groundwork for new income opportunities and more resilient cocoa-farming families by encouraging:

• Adopting agricultural practices: Such as pruning cocoa trees, planting shade and fruit trees (agroforestry), and using organic compost to enrich the soil to increase productivity and build farm resilience

• Helping with school expenses: Incentives for helping get children aged 6–16 into school by delivering mobile cash transfers

• Joining Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs): Self-managed savings groups that help families set money aside and access small loans to support the development of small businesses, aiming to increase income diversification

• Supporting women’s decision-making and financial resilience: By delivering mobile money cash transfer incentives directly into the hands of women, delivering gender training, and supporting income diversification through training in small business activities

Mobile money cash transfers are distributed equally between both heads of the family to encourage gender equity, share financial responsibilities, and build more resilient households.

The results in 2024 (see the latest progress report summary of the Nestlé income accelerator program for more details):

• +21% increase in cocoa net income vs non-participants

• +15% increase in total household net income

• 80% of families are now part of a Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs)

So far, the program has reached 30 000 cocoa-farming families in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, moving to 50 000 families by 2026 with the ambition to reach an estimated 160 000 by 2030. More information is available in the latest progress report summary of the Nestlé income accelerator program.

Your break is part of an innovative program in West Africa that supports cocoa-farming families by increasing their incomes, planting trees, and helping kids into school.

Education is at the centre of the income accelerator program. We support cocoa-farming families with school expenses by delivering mobile cash transfers, enabling children to get into the classroom.

Within the income accelerator program, cocoa-farming families can earn up to €250 for sending their kids to school. 50% percent of this is paid upfront, upon the parents' commitment to enrol their children aged 6-16. The remaining 50% is paid once it has been confirmed that their kids have been attending school regularly. We also support the kids by making sure they have what they need at school, such as school kits.

Mobile money cash transfers are distributed equally between both heads of the family to encourage gender equity, share financial responsibilities, and build more resilient* households. 

The results in 2024 (see the latest progress report summary of the Nestlé income accelerator program for more details): 

• 88% of children in participating families are now in school (up from 81% in 2022)

• 20 422 households have committed to sending their children to school

• +31% improvement in children's well-being index** vs non-participating families 

So far, the program has reached 30 000 cocoa-farming families in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, moving to 50 000 families by 2026 with the ambition to reach an estimated 160 000 by 2030. More information is available in the latest progress report summary of the Nestlé income accelerator program.

Your break is part of an innovative program in West Africa that supports cocoa-farming families by increasing their incomes, planting trees, and helping kids into school.

The program isn't just about growing cocoa – we want people to flourish too. 

This is why we're supporting women to have more power to make decisions and support their families with other sources of income, to fortify households.

Our approach: 

• Incentives are split equally between both heads of household via secure mobile money cash transfers

• Training and support for gender equality, income diversification, and business skills, such as beekeeping, raising livestock such as chickens, and selling vegetables from community-led gardens

• Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) help women improve their access to finances and build resilience for their families

The results in 2024 (see the latest progress report summary of the Nestlé income accelerator program for more details):  

• 80% of households have women participating in Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs)

• +18% improvement in women's empowerment index*

• 74% of women classified as empowered** in 2024 (up from 54% in 2022)

Gender justice isn't just a women's issue. Employing the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) methodology, we're training women and men to recognise that they can achieve more and improve their lives if they work together.  

So far, the program has reached 30 000 cocoa-farming families in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, moving to 50 000 families by 2026 with the ambition to reach an estimated 160 000 by 2030. More information is available in the latest progress report summary of the Nestlé income accelerator program.