Do Cocoa Certification Programmes Improve Farmers’ Income? Evidence from Côte d’Ivoire

Certification programmes are widely promoted as a means of improving the livelihoods of cocoa producers, but their effects on income remain debated. This study assesses the impact of certification programmes on cocoa farmers’ income in Côte d’Ivoire. The analysis is based on a sample of 150 farmers surveyed in three cocoa-growing regions (Bonon, Soubré, and Biankouma), which reflect evolution of cocoa-farming trajectories in Côte d’Ivoire. A Probit model is used to analyse the determinants of participation and to estimate propensity scores. The causal effect of certification is estimated using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and assessed for robustness using a Rosenbaum sensitivity test. The results show that literacy, expenditure on inputs, and household assets significantly increase the probability of participating in a certification programme. In contrast, working time has a negative effect on this probability. After matching, certification increases gross income by FCFA 189,499, or 77.9%, and net income by FCFA 183,478, or 112.7%, compared with otherwise comparable non-certified farmers. These effects remain robust to potential bias arising from unobserved selection. These findings suggest that certification programmes constitute an effective lever for improving the income of cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire. The study highlights the need to facilitate access to certification for farmers with fewer resources. Future research should go beyond measuring the average effect of certification on income to identify the mechanisms and conditions under which this effect arises.