Demystifying the cocoa sector This paper brings together the main results of a large scale research project led by the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), in partnership with Sudwind Institute, CIRAD, the Jacobs Foundation, IDH, UTZ, the Lindt Cocoa Foundation and GISCO. The aim of the research is to demystify many of the myths and assumptions about the cocoa sector in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. The researchers investigated three research areas, and their interlinkages: 1) dominant and subsidiary crop & livelihoods options; 2) differentiation of farming households in cocoa regions; and 3) intra-household dynamics, gender and nutrition. The following mixed methods were used for data collection: a systematic desk-study of 200 research papers, a household survey conducted with 1500 households in cocoa growing areas in Ghana, and 1500 households in Côte d'Ivoire (>30% female respondents), 76 focus group discussions and an ethnographic study in 3 cocoa growing communities. This paper aims to share the main findings of this major research trajectory. Several hypothesis have been tackled under the headings of Enabling environment; Farmer heterogeneity; The choice to grow cocoa; Options for income diversification; Production practices; Marketing practices; Gender and Intra household dynamics; Nutrition; and The future of cocoa. The paper will include recommendations, and the complete dataset will be made publically available in late 2017.