The Golden-Kith Standard: An Explainer
A deeper look at how our financial model addresses farmer poverty through direct, market-linked compensation.
Addressing the Challenge
Our financial model addresses the global challenge of farmer poverty by directly linking compensation to real market performance. Inspired by historic and proven compensation systems found in communities such as Idanre, Nigeria, and building on successful initiatives like Fairtrade, the Golden-Kith Standard moves beyond fixed premiums and symbolic interventions.
The Value Allocation Model
Landless Farmers
Allocated directly to labourers with no land access, transforming them into stakeholders.
Landowners & Operations
Supports farm operations, land access, inputs, and long-term capital investment.
Under this structure, 30% of the final export sale price is allocated directly to landless farmers—labourers with no previous access to land or farming resources—allowing them to participate meaningfully in the value they help create.
"Crucially, this dynamic share enables farmers to benefit from upward market movements, generating life-changing income improvements rather than marginal gains."
At the same time, Golden-Kith’s financial hedging framework protects both farmers and buyers during market downturns. Unlike previous profit-sharing frameworks—even in the Nigerian context—which often leave farmers fully exposed to price volatility, the Golden-Kith Standard ensures predictable income while still allowing farmers to capture market gains. This dual structure—upside participation combined with downside protection—makes the model both equitable and resilient.
Economic Reality & Long-Term Investment
The remaining 70% of the sale price is allocated to landowners, who finance farm operations, provide land access, inputs, and long-term capital investment. This allocation reflects the economic realities of cocoa production while ensuring that landless labourers hold a direct and transparent stake in the farm’s prosperity, rather than being confined to fixed, low-income wage structures. By giving labourers a tangible share of value creation, the model elevates previously marginalised farmers into active stakeholders in a way few existing systems achieve.
By guaranteeing higher, market-linked, and stabilised income, the model incentivises farmers to invest in farm maintenance, quality control, and long-term productivity. This directly supports buyers’ requirements for consistent quality and supply security. Financial stability also reduces reliance on high-risk coping mechanisms, lowering the incidence of child labour, side-selling, and supply-chain leakage, while helping international partners meet stringent human-rights and ethical-sourcing standards.
Building Trust for the Future
Beyond economics, the Golden-Kith Standard fosters deep trust and long-term alignment between farmers, landowners, and buyers. By embedding fairness and transparency into compensation, it supports multi-generational and inter-ethnic familial relationships that underpin stable communities and reliable supply networks. The result is a system that delivers verifiable livelihood impact, durable sourcing relationships, and resilient cocoa supply chains capable of sustaining global demand for decades.
0% Additional Fees
We do not charge international partners any additional fees for integrating the Golden-Kith Standard into their supply chains. We believe that ethical, equitable trade should be accessible to all participants, and our goal is to create shared value—empowering farmers while supporting partners—without adding extra cost.