Gender-Responsive Cocoa-Funded Public Services

This research explored how revenues from the cocoa value chain are used by district assemblies to fund public services and whether these services respond to the distinct needs of women, men, boys, girls, and marginalized groups. It found that while districts do raise limited funds from cocoa through licenses and tolls, these are minimal and often poorly documented. Most cocoa-funded public services, such as education, water, and agricultural support, address basic needs but rarely go further to tackle gender inequality or empower communities. Assemblies often lack the capacity and frameworks to assess the gender-transformative potential of their services.