At a time when much of the global conversation is centered on political instability and shifting priorities, Côte d’Ivoire has boldly committed itself to the truth that health is a human right. As part of the 2024–2025 mid-crop cocoa marketing season, the government of Côte d’Ivoire made a historic announcement: it will fully cover National Health Insurance (CMU) contributions for over 1.1 million coffee and cocoa farmers.

Backed by an official payment of 952 million F CFA to the Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie (CNAM), this policy ensures that farming households, often among the most vulnerable to medical impoverishment, are no longer forced to consider whether they can truly afford to seek healthcare. As Madame KONAN Amelan Estelle Liliane, Chairwoman of YSOCA cooperative, so powerfully said, “The President of the Republic… has once again shown us that he cares about coffee-cocoa producers.”

This is more than just political symbolism: it is a transformative leap for Côte d’Ivoire’s rural farming communities. The agricultural sector contributed 21.2% to the country’s GDP and employes almost half of the labor force (46%). By protecting households from the financial burden of medical costs, barriers to accessing healthcare are reduced for hundreds of thousands of citizens.

We know that healthcare is fundamental to agricultural supply chain resilience: With healthier families, farming communities are less prone to devastating cycles of absenteeism due to untreated illness. This bolsters productivity and economic resilience and creates additional disposable income. That income, in turn, can be reinvested into farms, used to educate children, or saved to cushion against future shocks. Most importantly, it reduces the risk of harmful coping mechanisms such as resorting to child labor or selling assets after a medical emergency.

We support this move by the government of Côte d’Ivoire and hope it sparks a wave of similar initiatives across other countries. However, even with this remarkable progress, we must remember: policies alone cannot carry the global burden of change. That’s why supplementary approaches like those driven by us remain not only relevant but essential.

We work in close partnership with cooperatives and farming communities to ensure universal health coverage is not only equitable, but also sustainable in the long term, with core principles that complement and build upon progress made by governments like Côte d’Ivoire’s.

Here’s how:

We Complement National Initiatives

Many national initatives in sub-Saharan Africa, such as national health insurances, or initiatives like that of the government of Côte d’Ivoire, still suffer from service and coverage gaps. Many rural communities aren’t reached by national healthcare initiatives, or, when they are, the medications or treatments they need might not be covered. For this reason, we aim to complement and strengthen the existing national systems – enrolling our beneficiaries in national health insurance schemes where available, as well as implementing comprehensive health programs ourselves.

We Cover Entire Households

Unlike many government iniatives which focus on the individual producer, our model ensures healthcare extends to every member of the household, because families don’t experience illness in isolation. When coverage includes spouses, children, and other dependents, the impact of healthcare affordability is felt more broadly and the community becomes stronger as a whole.

Transparent, Data-Driven Impact

Every initiative we implement is monitored through robust, real-time data systems. We collect health and socio-economic data via our Field Staff Portal and Health Service Provider Portal. Data is centralized and standardized on our main platform, allowing us to track outcomes like household enrollment rates, healthcare utilization, cost-effectiveness, and claims filed. This evidence-based approach aligns with globally recognized standards like the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), ensuring accountability and transparency across our projects. Improving transparency in single supply chains provides an example to others, and hopefully, our data-driven approach will improve conditions across agricultural supply chains globally!

A Shared Mission Needs Shared Responsibility

Côte d’Ivoire’s universal healthcare promise to its coffee-cocoa farmers is an extraordinary act of leadership. More countries should follow this example – we urge them to do so! But history has shown us that even the most promising government-led initiatives can falter amid shifting political landscapes or economic uncertainty.

This is exactly why the private sector, mission-aligned organizations, and cross-sector collaborations must step in – not to compete with government programs, but as a complementary model that ensures maximum success. By working hand-in-hand with government-led initiatives and communities themselves, we can ensure that promises translate into long-term progress.