YouTube creator Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, has unveiled a nearly $10 million self-sustaining village in Ghana designed to help children leave illegal labour in the cocoa industry and return to school, describing it as his largest humanitarian project to date.
The project, named Abna Dakwa Village, was built on previously undeveloped land following approximately one year of planning and eight months of construction. MrBeast documented the initiative in a video posted to his YouTube channel on September 19, 2026.
“We built a literal city to help get kids out of illegal child labour,” MrBeast wrote on Instagram. “I’m so proud of the impact this video will have.”
What the Village Includes
Abna Dakwa Village comprises a state-of-the-art school equipped to educate more than 300 children, 10 free homes for teachers, a medical clinic, a community marketplace, a library, clean-water facilities and recreational areas. Two large water towers supply clean drinking water, while an off-grid solar power system — installed with support from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet — powers the settlement independently.
Agricultural facilities, fish tanks and a chicken coop were also introduced to support food production and economic self-sufficiency. A bridge leading from the community to the school was renovated to enable children to travel safely without the risk of drowning. An ultra-modern washroom facility was also constructed.
To encourage school attendance, students will receive free daily meals for the next five years through a partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation. The broader programme is expected to provide approximately 4,000 children in Ghana and Kenya with lunches five days a week.
“Building schools gives kids a place to learn, but if they’re hungry, they can’t focus or reach their full potential,” MrBeast said. “We’re not just feeding thousands of students, we’re helping local farmers and keeping kids healthy in a sustainable way.”
A Response to a Decades-Old Crisis
The initiative is directly linked to MrBeast’s chocolate company, Feastables, which has positioned itself as a counterweight to an industry long criticised for tolerating child labour in its supply chain.
Ghana and neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire together supply about 60 to 70 percent of the world’s cocoa, mostly cultivated through child labour. An estimated 1.5 million children work within the cocoa supply chain in the two countries, with many engaged in hazardous tasks such as clearing land, applying pesticides without protective gear, and harvesting cocoa pods with dangerous tools.
Despite decades of interventions — including the Harkin-Engel Protocol signed in 2001, which aimed to reduce the worst forms of child labour in cocoa by 70 percent by 2020 — the latest progress reports show that child labour in the sector is increasing rather than decreasing.
The root cause, experts say, is poverty. Cocoa farmers in West Africa earn less than $1 a day, creating an economic reliance on child labour. In Ghana, over 23 percent of the population lives at or below the poverty line.
In the video, MrBeast highlighted the broader problem and called on consumers and chocolate companies to take greater responsibility.
“Big chocolate will not care about rampant child labour until you guys watching this video do something about it,” he said, urging viewers to demand greater accountability from manufacturers. “Show big chocolate that you care, that you do not want little children exploited.”
Feastables’ Ethical Sourcing Model
MrBeast’s Feastables brand has taken several steps to distance itself from the industry’s troubled supply chain. In April 2025, the company announced that 100 percent of its cocoa is now sourced from Fairtrade certified cooperatives. Feastables also pays the Fairtrade Living Income Reference Price — the first US chocolate bar company to make that commitment.
The brand works exclusively with cocoa farmers and cooperatives that implement Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems (CLMRS) to identify and address cases of child labour. Its stated mission is to get 1,500,000 children out of child labour and into local schools.
“The status-quo of the big chocolate sector means nearly half of all children living in cocoa communities in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire are engaged in illegal child labour,” MrBeast said when announcing the Fairtrade certification. “We created Feastables, and we’re going to use the incredible network of our fans, to change the way business is done in cacao-growing regions around the world.”
A Global Collaboration
The village was developed through partnerships with the 1 Billion Followers Summit, the Varkey Foundation and Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives as part of the 1 Billion Acts of Kindness campaign, launched in January 2026.
Ten content creators from different countries, including Ghanaian YouTuber Wode Maya, travelled to Ghana to participate in the construction. “We are going to Ghana. There is this village that desperately needs help. We will go there, build a hospital, wells, supply them with water and education,” MrBeast said at the campaign’s launch.
Mixed Reactions in Ghana
The project has drawn overwhelmingly positive reactions from international audiences. However, many Ghanaian netizens used the video as a moment of national reflection.
“It took an American YouTuber just $10 million to rebuild a self-sustaining village in a year,” one widely shared comment noted. “Yet the government spends hundreds of millions on fantasy projects which in no way help the ordinary Ghanaian.”
MrBeast’s Broader Philanthropy
The Ghana village is the latest in a series of large-scale philanthropic projects by MrBeast, who is reportedly worth $2.6 billion. His previous initiatives include ocean cleanup efforts, tree-planting campaigns, and the construction of hundreds of wells across Africa.
The 28-year-old acknowledged that his philanthropy videos typically attract fewer views than his entertainment content but said he remains committed to the work.
“It’s funny when people say I only help people for views because it’s literally the opposite lol,” he wrote on X. “Doesn’t matter though, helping people brings me purpose, and even if no one watches, I’ll keep making them.”
