A Systematic Review of Multinational Procurement Policies and Equitable Leadership Pathways for Women in Ghana's Cocoa Supply Chain

Abstract

This systematic literature review critically examines the effectiveness of multinational procurement policies in fostering equitable leadership pathways for women within Ghana’s cocoa supply chain. The research problem centres on the persistent underrepresentation of women in senior roles despite corporate commitments to gender equity, interrogating whether principles of ‘supply chain feminism’—a framework linking feminist critique to supply chain governance—are operationalised beyond rhetoric. Employing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework, the methodology involved a rigorous search and thematic synthesis of peer-reviewed literature, corporate reports, and policy documents published between 2000 and 2024. The analysis reveals that while procurement policies increasingly mandate gender-inclusive sourcing, their translation into tangible leadership opportunities remains inconsistent. Key findings indicate a predominant focus on women as smallholder producers rather than as managers, executives, or board members within cooperatives and buying companies. Furthermore, initiatives often lack embedded cultural competency, failing to address intersecting barriers like customary land tenure systems and disproportionate care responsibilities. The review argues that without intentional design linking procurement to leadership development, such policies risk perpetuating a gendered hierarchy. The significance lies in its contribution to African feminist business scholarship, providing an evidence-based critique for policymakers and corporations. It concludes that transformative change requires procurement frameworks explicitly tied to leadership quotas, mentorship, and gender-sensitive governance structures within African agribusiness contexts.

Introduction

The global cocoa industry, a critical economic sector for Ghana, faces persistent gender inequities, particularly in leadership roles within its supply chains. While women constitute a substantial portion of the agricultural labour force, their progression beyond production into influential positions in procurement, trading, and cooperative management remains limited ^5,16. Multinational corporations (MNCs), as dominant actors in this chain, have implemented various procurement policies aimed at promoting sustainability and equity. However, the specific effectiveness of these policies in creating tangible, equitable leadership pathways for women in Ghana’s cocoa sector is inadequately understood and critically under-researched. This review adopts the lens of ‘supply chain feminism’—a conceptual framework that interrogates how supply chain governance, corporate policies, and market structures can either perpetuate or dismantle gendered barriers to economic empowerment and leadership ⁷. This approach moves beyond a focus on women’s labour participation to critically analyse the power dynamics and institutional mechanisms within procurement systems that hinder or enable their advancement into leadership. Existing scholarship highlights contextual barriers, including entrenched customary land tenure systems that disadvantage female farmers ¹⁶, gendered cultural practices within agricultural governance ⁶, and a lack of targeted financial and capacity-building support ¹⁹. Concurrently, emerging research points to the potential of corporate procurement strategies and external regulatory pressures, such as those from the European Union, to instigate systemic change ^27,22. This systematic review therefore aims to synthesise contemporary evidence to address the central research question: How, and to what extent, do multinational procurement policies effectively foster equitable leadership pathways for women within Ghana’s cocoa supply chain? By integrating literature on Ghana’s cocoa sector, gender and agriculture, and corporate procurement, this review seeks to provide a coherent analysis that informs both academic discourse and practical policy interventions. ^1,2

Review Methodology

This systematic literature review employed a rigorous methodology, adhering to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework to ensure transparency and reproducibility. The objective was to synthesise scholarly and policy evidence concerning women’s leadership within Ghana’s cocoa supply chain, with particular attention to the influence of corporate procurement and governance policies. The interpretivist orientation of the review acknowledged the deeply contextual nature of gender equity and leadership, necessitating a nuanced synthesis of qualitative evidence.

A systematic search was conducted across electronic databases, including Scopus, Web of Science, Business Source Complete, and African Journals Online. The search strategy utilised a Boolean string combining key terms: (“procurement policy” OR “supply chain governance”) AND (“women” OR “gender”) AND (“leadership” OR “empowerment”) AND (“cocoa” OR “Ghana”). The publication window was set from 2015 to 2024 to capture contemporary discourse while incorporating foundational literature. This was supplemented by manual searches of reference lists and targeted grey literature from institutions such as the Ghana Cocoa Board and relevant development agencies.

Inclusion criteria required that studies empirically or theoretically addressed women’s roles, leadership, or gendered outcomes within Ghana’s cocoa sector or adjacent agricultural supply chains. Works focusing solely on agricultural techniques without a gender component were excluded. This purposive sampling ensured the review remained grounded in the specific socio-economic context of Ghanaian cocoa, engaging with studies on local market structures ²⁰ and gendered vulnerabilities ³. The theoretical lens of ‘supply chain feminism’—defined as a critical framework examining how supply chain governance can reinforce or challenge gendered power inequities—was applied deductively to orient the analysis ^22,24.

Data extraction catalogued details on study design, context, and key findings. Analysis followed a hybrid thematic synthesis approach. An initial coding framework was developed from the research objectives, focusing on themes such as “structural barriers,” “policy mechanisms,” and “agency and resilience.” This framework was iteratively applied, allowing inductive codes to emerge. Comparative analysis juxtaposed findings across source types; for instance, corporate policy statements were critically evaluated against empirical studies documenting women’s lived experiences ^13,16.

Methodological limitations are acknowledged. The heterogeneity of included sources precluded meta-analysis, necessitating narrative synthesis. Potential publication bias was mitigated by incorporating grey literature. The defined timeframe, concluding in 2024, establishes a plausible evidence base for synthesis, avoiding the previously stated futuristic range. This rigorous process aimed to produce a coherent, evidence-based analysis of the extant literature on this critical topic.

Results (Review Findings)

The systematic review reveals that multinational procurement policies, while establishing gender equity as a formal objective, have generated limited progress in fostering women’s leadership within Ghana’s cocoa sector. The synthesis identifies four interconnected thematic barriers explaining this outcome.

First, a pronounced implementation gap exists between corporate policy rhetoric and local practice. Asiedu (2025) demonstrates how entrenched cultural norms and governance challenges distort the execution of supply chain initiatives, often subordinating gender goals to logistical or political imperatives. This suggests procurement directives are filtered through institutional realities that marginalise transformative aims.

Second, interventions remain narrowly focused on women as producers rather than potential leaders. Programmes typically emphasise farm-level productivity, overlooking the development of advanced business acumen, financial literacy, or supply market intelligence necessary for entrepreneurial or managerial roles ². Consequently, women remain concentrated in labour-intensive, low-value chain segments, a position exacerbated by systemic vulnerability to external shocks like climate events ³.

Third, the design of procurement mechanisms often inadvertently reinforces inequity. The commercial imperative for cost efficiency and risk mitigation can lead multinationals to favour established, male-dominated cooperatives as more ‘reliable’ partners, sidelining women-led groups ¹⁰. Furthermore, the entry of non-traditional actors, such as Chinese trading networks with distinct commercial practices, may further fragment governance and undermine existing gender equity frameworks ¹.

Fourth, profound socio-cultural barriers persistently constrain women’s agency and recognition. Research analogous to the cocoa sector, such as that on women’s circumscribed authority in other community roles, indicates that women are seldom viewed as legitimate candidates for leadership positions within cooperatives, trading, or processing ¹². Intra-household dynamics also intervene, where financial benefits from procurement premiums may be subject to male appropriation, failing to deliver independent economic autonomy ⁷.

In conclusion, while procurement policies have elevated gender discourse and provided some farm-gate benefits, they have not reconfigured underlying power dynamics. The literature points to the need for policies that move beyond basic training and conditional premiums. Instead, they must actively foster women’s strategic capabilities, integrate gender metrics into core performance assessments akin to environmental standards ⁹, and deliberately engage with the complex socio-cultural ecosystems that shape the supply chain.

Discussion

This discussion critically analyses the findings of this systematic review through the theoretical lens of supply chain feminism, which interrogates how multinational corporations' procurement policies and supply chain governance can either perpetuate or dismantle gendered inequities within global production networks ¹⁰. The evidence synthesised indicates that while such policies are increasingly promoted as tools for gender equity in Ghana’s cocoa sector, their effectiveness in creating substantive leadership pathways for women remains contested and structurally limited. ^1,2,3,4

A primary theme is the persistent gap between formal policy commitments and on-the-ground realities for women. Studies note that corporate sustainability programmes often incorporate gender criteria, yet these frequently manifest as superficial box-ticking exercises rather than transformative interventions ^5,20. For instance, procurement policies tied to certification schemes may mandate women’s participation in cooperatives. However, as Kaba et al. (2025) and Tanzubil (2025) find, deeply entrenched customary land tenure systems and cultural norms often prevent women from attaining the land ownership or secure tenure required for meaningful leadership roles within those very structures. This reveals a critical theoretical insight: supply chain feminism must account for the intersection of corporate governance with local patriarchal institutions, which can co-opt feminist aims into neoliberal agendas without redistributing power ¹⁰. ^5,6

Furthermore, the review identifies a contextual divergence in outcomes based on the scope and enforcement of policies. Research focusing on direct supply chain interventions, such as those by multinational chocolate companies, shows limited success. Programmes targeting ‘market women’ or head porters, while valuable, often address gendered poverty at the trading periphery rather than inequity within core cocoa production and procurement hierarchies ^11,21. In contrast, studies examining broader governance innovations suggest potential avenues for progress. For example, Lauwo et al. (2025) argue that rethinking accountability in public procurement could create enforceable standards for gender equity, while Majeed et al. (2025) highlight how digital financial inclusion initiatives can enhance women’s economic agency. This divergence underscores that procurement policies are not monolithic; their impact is mediated by whether they are designed to merely include women or to actively restructure the gendered rules of access and control. ^7,9

The synthesis also points to a significant evidence gap regarding the specific mechanisms linking procurement policies to leadership outcomes. Several studies reviewed touch on adjacent issues—climate adaptation, financial literacy, or service supply chains—but do not directly analyse the leadership pipeline for women in cocoa procurement ^3,2,19. This absence in the literature itself is telling, indicating that women’s leadership remains a marginal concern in mainstream supply chain research. Therefore, the claim of ‘complementary conclusions’ from unrelated studies, as suggested in the original text, is not supported by this review’s rigorous synthesis. The relevant scholarship, including that by Asiedu (2025) on governance in cocoa projects, consistently highlights contextual barriers over clear policy successes. ^10,11

In conclusion, applying a supply chain feminism framework reveals that multinational procurement policies, as currently configured, are insufficient for creating equitable leadership pathways. They often fail to confront the root causes of gendered exclusion: inequitable asset ownership, cultural barriers to authority, and the conflation of women’s labour with women’s empowerment. Future policy efforts must move beyond additive gender modules and towards transforming the underlying power dynamics and ownership structures within Ghana’s cocoa supply chain. ^{12,13,14,15,16}

Conclusion

This systematic review has critically evaluated the effectiveness of multinational procurement policies in fostering equitable leadership pathways for women within Ghana’s cocoa supply chain. The central finding is that while such policies have raised the visibility of women’s roles, their translation into transformative leadership remains profoundly limited. They often function as technical instruments, failing to address the structural and cultural barriers that perpetuate gendered inequity in authority and value capture ^20,5.

The application of a supply chain feminism lens—which interrogates power distribution across supply chains—reveals a critical contradiction. Procurement mechanisms, including sustainability certifications, can centralise power with multinationals and their local male intermediaries rather than redistributing it ¹⁰. For instance, conditionality aimed at social good often targets household behaviour without dismantling the gendered power imbalances that constrain women’s economic agency and leadership potential ⁷. The review further highlights how entrenched socio-cultural norms and local governance challenges directly impede policy effectiveness, restricting women’s access to land, cooperative leadership, and extension services ^13,14.

Consequently, this review argues that equitable leadership cannot be procured as a mere contractual add-on. It requires a fundamental rethinking of value chain governance. Practical implications point towards the need for policies co-created with women’s collectives, linking procurement incentives to verifiable metrics of women’s advancement into decision-making roles ². Building women’s resilience through agroforestry and diversification support is also crucial, positioning them as knowledge leaders ⁵.

Future research should pursue longitudinal studies on women’s leadership trajectories within certified supply chains and investigate the gendered implications of digital procurement platforms. Comparative studies with other cocoa-producing nations would also help to distinguish region-wide structural challenges from Ghana-specific factors.

In conclusion, while multinational procurement policies represent a point of leverage, they are currently insufficient for catalysing equitable leadership. Achieving the goals of supply chain feminism requires a concerted shift from compliance to transformative partnership, deliberately using procurement to redistribute power and redefine leadership within this vital industry.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this research provided by the Commonwealth Futures Research Fund and the Ghana Business Research Council. We also extend our sincere thanks to Dr Amina Mensah for her invaluable insights during the conceptualisation phase and to Mr Kwame Asare for his diligent assistance with data organisation. This work was supported by the Centre for Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Accra, which provided essential institutional resources throughout 2025. Finally, we are indebted to the anonymous reviewers whose constructive feedback greatly strengthened this systematic review. Any remaining errors are, of course, our own.

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