ICI and Nestlé are continuing to protect and empower children by improving access to quality education in cocoa-growing communities in Côte d’Ivoire.
In two communities in the Bouaflé department in Central-Western Côte d’Ivoire, Djibofla and Koupela, the expanded and improved schools started welcoming pupils earlier this year.
Located in the Sassandra-Marahoué district, Djibofla has just over 1,000 inhabitants.
Earlier this year, with support from Nestlé and ICI, three new classrooms and a school canteen were added to the existing school, replacing existing classrooms that had fallen into disrepair.
“During the rainy season, parents asked their children to stay home because the wind blew the roof off the building, the rain became an obstacle, and the heat during the dry season was unbearable. Both teachers and students complainedregularly,” revealed Koeli Bi Boua Romeo, Director of the Djibofla Public Primary School.
The three new classrooms and a canteen mean the school can now accommodate 300 pupils in a modern learning environment.
Guimi Kouassi Elvis, president of the School Management Committee (COGES) at Djibofla, attributes the improvement in student performance to the new facilities. “From 50 pupils in 1976, we had grown to 250 in 2014. Today the school has more than 300 pupils with a 99% pass rate in the 6th grade entrance exam this year,” he said.
In the second town, Koupela, the first school built in 2011 could not accommodate the large number of pupils it received. Despite the construction of an additional three-classroom building, pupils had to attend in double shifts and those in preschool were in poor conditions. This situation resulted in children dropping out of school. "All the preschool children had to share a single classroom. We had no games for the children and no latrines. Today, what a relief! (or Now it’s so much better!)A school with a fence, a playground and latrines has been built for the preschool children,” explained N'Guessan Geneviève Kouassi, Director of Koupela 2, Preschool.
This sentiment is shared by Koudougou Souleymane, a cocoa farmer, whose daughter Amsatou attends the school. He has noticed an improvement in his daughter’s results, a pupil in the first year of middle school.
"Since ICI and Nestlé constructed a new four-room building, one of which is used for the preschool children, there are no more double shifts, and the pupils sit two to a table [as intended].”
As for Zoro Mondésir, a Year 3 pupil, he is “impressed by the decoration of his new classroom and the beauty of the building,” which encourages him to come to school.
Since 2012, Nestlé, with the support of ICI, has been firmly committed to improving the quality of education in cocoa-producing areas in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, according to Nathan Bello, Nestlé Cocoa Plan Manager for West Africa. Investing in education through the construction of infrastructure is one of the best ways to reduce the risks of child labour, he explained. “A total of 50 schools have been built or refurbished, 45 in Côte d'Ivoire and 5 in Ghana, as part of our partnership with ICI. In addition to the 36 schools built as part of other previous partnerships, this brings the total number of schools built to date to 86,” he said.
“Since 2012, we have been satisfied with the results produced by this programme. Because what makes the communities happy also makes us happy. In 2026, we intend to do even more with the help of ICI,” he concluded.
