A significant number of Samoans depend on koko Samoa as their only source of income. This gender analysis highlights the results of a study designed to identify and document the roles, responsibilities, expectations and challenges of both women and men across the cocoa value chain in Samoa. The analysis recommends specific aspects or approaches that could be taken to better address gender issues and, in particular, women’s economic empowerment. Despite the cultural gendered norms defining men and women’s work, significant numbers of women supervise and contribute to various types of work on cocoa plantations, from planting to harvesting. The analysis also includes information about commercial production of cocoa products and offers recommendations to improve marketing of koko Samoa and the economic empowerment of women through research and their involvement in plantation maintenance.

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