Beyond Beans
Farmers First, Supply Chain Second
Beyond Beans is the sustainability arm of ETG, one of the largest agricultural commodity traders in Africa. In Ghana, they have built a farmer network across the cocoa supply chain that goes far beyond buying and selling. Their work is about ensuring that the farmers who grow the cocoa are also the ones who benefit from it.
Their Role in the Farm of the Future
Beyond Beans is the partner closest to farmers on the ground. They bring an existing relationship of trust with communities in Nsokote that cannot be built quickly or imported from outside. Within the project, they lead two areas of work: farmer network activation (connecting the model farm to the surrounding community and ensuring knowledge reaches the 200 farmers the project targets by 2028) and financial inclusion, through the introduction and digitisation of Village Savings and Loan Associations in Farm of the Future communities.
Labour Groups and the Supply Chain
The 75 labour groups operating across the Nsokote district work within the Income Accelerator Program that Beyond Beans administers. Every member owns their own cocoa farm, has completed Farmer Field School training, and owns a smartphone. Beyond Beans coordinates their work across the supply chain: aligning pruning schedules, training delivery, and farm management support with the broader goals of the project.
VSLAs and Financial Literacy
A farmer who cannot access credit cannot invest in their farm. Beyond Beans is addressing this through the establishment and digitisation of four VSLAs in Farm of the Future communities, integrating them with Mobile Money systems. Alongside this, they deliver Farming as a Business training to 200 community members, building the financial literacy that makes long term farm investment possible. Currently 67% of farmers in the surveyed communities are already members of a VSLA or similar savings group. Beyond Beans is building on that foundation.
Sustainability Within the Company
Beyond Beans exists because ETG recognised that the long term viability of its cocoa supply chain depends on the long term viability of the farmers who supply it. Exhausted soils, declining yields, and rural depopulation are risks for any company whose business depends on cocoa. The Farm of the Future is Beyond Beans demonstrating that sustainability and supply chain resilience are the same thing.
