"I grew up in poverty and I know that education is the only way out.”
Fons Maex went to Tanzania to visit cocoa farmers for the first time in 2010. He saw farmers, children and entire communities in big dificulties. Climate in Tanzania is favorable for cocoa cultivation but farmers face many challenges with old trees and lack of knowledge.
He wanted to help somehow. The only way out of poverty is knowledge, therefore first step was enforcing the weak educational infrastructure in the region.
Labor practices on cocoa farms are an issue, with too many children participating in hazardous farming tasks or working at the expense of attending school.
up to2021 
2022
* These figures are covering only inaugurated buildings. Primary and secondary schools combined.
A fixed amount on each ton of
cocoa beans is bought on our behalf.
Since 2015, we have donated almost5.700.000 €
Kim's Chocolates is part of the Cocoa Horizons NGO through the contributions Kim's pays to Barry Callebaut. The cocoa we pay contributions on is not only coming from Tanzania but also from other regions of the world. Kim's Chocolates has chosen to invest its contributions only to our Cocoa for Schools in Tanzania.
The local industry:
We can buy our major construction materials at a very low price
- Cement: Mbeya Cement (LafargeHolcim) - Mbeya
- Roof sheets/caps and rebars: Alaf – Dar es Salaam
- Paint: Berger Paint International – Dar es Salaam
- Timber/doors & windows: Sao Hills – Mafinga (from sustainable origin only)
Because poverty is one of the main reasons that children don't go to school, Kim’s Chocolates and partners are also focused on increasing productivity through:
Other things that need to be done in the region:
Absence of clean water leads to a lot of diseases (dysentery, cholera,...). Child mortality (<5y) was 4.87% in 2015.
We intend to:
In rural Africa, as there is no electricity, some 250 million people use kerosene to light their houses
Kerosene causes:
Families do not have money to afford small solar panels, but we would provide these with micro-credits. Every week they would pay 5,000 TZS, the money they would not spend on kerosene.
Besides Kim’s Chocolates and Biolands there are many other sponsors which came on board. If you would like to join and become member of this giving crowd write us now fons.maex@kimchoc.be
Cocoa for Schools has received donations from private individuals and from employees at Kim’s Chocolates. Most generous donations came from Johan Dekempe (Belgium), Peter & Gertie Miehle (Germany), Désiré Collen (Belgium), Louise Tsang (Hong Kong) and Patra Wong (Hong Kong).
Fons is founder of Kim's Chocolates. He started the “Cocoa for Schools” initiative. Fons follows up on all school buildings and travels to Tanzania regularly where he is supervising our projects.
Construction Engineer
Project Administrator
Field Supervisor