26 The Hershey Company | 2021 ESG Report Cocoa The Big Picture Our Company Cocoa Responsible Sourcing and Human Rights Environment Our People Youth Community About This Report Prevention Is the Priority Preventing Child Labor Through Addressing Child Labor Through Knowing that children will be fed at school Access to Education Our 2021 Impact School-Based Nutrition is another reason to ensure they go to class • 45,000 children received daily servings rather than to work, making it an important 1 As part of our efforts to eliminate child labor, of ViVi, our vitamin-fortified, peanut- Not only does a full stomach improve a preventive tool in the fight against child labor. we seek to proactively prevent child labor based, ready-to-use therapeutic food. student’s ability to concentrate and learn, it can Research Hershey commissioned shows that by removing barriers to children being able also be the deciding factor between whether providing ViVi improves children’s health to attend school and by encouraging school • 12,627 children enrolled in primary or not a child attends school. In collaboration and increases school enrollment and regular attendance through our school feeding schools that benefited from quality with Ghana’s Ministry of Gender, Children and attendance while also enabling improved initiative. We focus significant resources and education interventions. Social Protection, the Ghana National School academic performance.2 effort on making it easier for children to access • 1,883 school kits provided. Feeding Programme and our suppliers, Hershey and continue their education, such as by has been distributing ViVi daily to school improving education infrastructure, training • 1,466 birth certificates obtained to enable children in cocoa-growing communities in school-parent management committees, access to school. Ghana since 2015. providing school kits filled with important ViVi, developed by Hershey and our school supplies, distributing vitamin-fortified, • 25 classrooms renovated. partner Project Peanut Butter, provides peanut-based, ready-to-use therapeutic food To see our key performance children with 30% of their daily nutritional to schoolchildren and helping children and metrics from the year, intake requirements. In 2021, we reached youth obtain birth certificates for see page 31. approximately 25,000 children daily in Ghana. school enrollment. In addition, ViVi is produced in Ghana in a In October 2021, we signed a five-year factory that employs 30 local men and women agreement with the Jacobs Foundation, the and provides a secure market for more than 20 Government of Côte d’Ivoire Ministry of Ghanaian peanut farmers. Education and Literacy, and 14 other chocolate In February 2021, production and distribution producers and cocoa suppliers to implement began in Côte d’Ivoire, thanks to a partnership the Child Learning and Education Facility with the country’s National Nutrition Council (CLEF). This new public-private initiative will and a new Hershey-funded ViVi factory at contribute to improved foundational literacy San Pedro, in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire. and numeracy skills for five million children at The trial distribution reached 2,552 students. primary school level and includes an investment By September 2021, distribution expanded in 2,500 new classrooms. to reach 20,000 school children daily in the regions of San Pedro and Haut-Sassandra. We expect further growth of the project in Côte d’Ivoire in 2022. 1 Education quality and child labour publication | ICI. 2 Steiner-Aseidu, M. (Prof) and Saalia, F.B. (Prof) (2016–2018) A Pilot Study to Determine the Efficacy of Consuming Highly Fortified Groundnut Nutritional Supplement on the Nutritional Status of School Children, University of Ghana.