Cocoa & Forests Initiative claims renewed progress on tackling deforestation challenges
The key Cocoa & Forests Initiative has unveiled its latest annual report, which found 83% of its directly sourced cocoa from participating companies in Ghana and 82% in neighbouring Ivory Coast are now traceable to farm level, ahead of upcoming EUDR legal operating requirements reports Neill Barston.
Notably, the cross-industry venture, which was signed by over 35 chocolate and cocoa companies including Barry Callebaut, Cargill, Ferrero, Touton and Olam, Nestle, Blommer and Hershey, set about to enhance the scheme in a ‘2.0’ version within the past two years, in recognition that its efforts needed to be scaled further, in order to address the industry-linked deforestation that the sector has played its part in.
However, the venture has asserted that progress has been made in terms of raising levels of traceability, forest conservation and climate adaptation, with 58,774 hectares of reforestation carried out in rural areas last year, and 7,132 hectares of forest reserves and classified forests restored. There were also 114,213 hectares of cocoa plots converted into agroforestry, which is seen as vital to overall scaling of project work in the region.
Significantly, the CFI noted that despite the past year having proved challenging, with major increases in cocoa prices, erratic weather patterns, an increase in pests and diseases and illegal mining clearing cocoa farms, its commitment of companies and governments to its ventures has remained steadfast. It noted that such tests meant that collaboration across the industry is more crucial than ever.
Industry tests
As Confectionery Production has previously reported, environmental groups including Mighty Earth have further highlighted the issues at stake in the region – with its own studies asserting that deforestation has continued at an alarming rate within the region – with wooded areas the equivalent size of cities such as Madrid, Seoul or Chicago being lost to commercial activities including cocoa farming, as well as a major problem of illegal mining, known as ‘Galamsey’ in the region.
According to Mighty Earth, latest figures show 10,550 hectares of deforestation ocurred in 2022 within cocoa-growing regions, with 8,188 hectares of this clearance occurring within forest reserves. It is likely that much of this clearance has been for cocoa plot expansion.
As for the CFI report, it noted that despite supply challenges that required sourcing cocoa from a larger number of producers, these traceability figures have remained relatively stable. Significant efforts over the past year have been dedicated to enhancing traceability systems in preparation for the 2025 European Union Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR).
According to the initiative, these efforts are expected to yield higher traceability figures by 2025. Establishing accurate traceability systems is crucial ahead of the EUDR. Pilots for these systems have been conducted by the Conseil du Café-Cacao and COCOBOD with full implementation planned for the 2024-25 cocoa season. Additionally, Ghana has published national guidelines for the Sustainable Cocoa Standard (ARS-1000) and Côte d’Ivoire has developed a 2020 reference land use map.
CFI fosters collaboration between public and private sectors through clear land-use planning and incentives for farmers and their partners. However, greater collaboration at the landscape level beyond single supply chains is needed. Hence, the CFI strategy focuses on landscape-level programming in areas prioritised, as a result of high levels of historic deforestation, that are also critical for cocoa production in both countries.
Country progress
Within Ivory Coast, the initiative highlighted the Classified Forest of Cavally, one of six CFI priority landscapes, has been upgraded to a nature reserve, enhancing its conservation status. Collaboration in this landscape has expanded with new partners, including Touton and CocoaSource, joining Nestlé and Earthworm. In the Yapo-Abbé and Bossématié landscapes work has begun on comprehensive land-use assessments, stakeholder engagement and baseline studies. These will lead to investment plans that will be finalised by the end of 2024.
Meanwhile, in Ghana, within the Asunafo-Asutifi landscape, progress has been made and stakeholders have jointly defined and agreed on a comprehensive landscape management plan. Efforts are underway to secure additional investments to scale and accelerate implementation.
pic: ofi
Regarding climate mitigation measures, the scheme noted that Ivory Coast is actively developing carbon policies aligned with the UNFCCC National Determined Contributions. Ghana received its second results-based payment of nearly $5 million from the World Bank’s Emission Reduction Programme, with the largest share going to CREMAs (Community Resource Management Area) and farmer groups. This ensures that farmers and farming communities are leading and owning key interventions, which is essential for ongoing sustainability.
These, in turn are linked to the CFI’s community engagement and social inclusion, through which in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire a total of 12,361 Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) were supported. In both countries, CFI signatories distributed 10 million multi-purpose tree seedlings to cocoa producers to support increased carbon stocks and biodiversity through agroforestry.
Laurent Tchagba, Minister of Water and Forests, Ivory Coast, commented: “Two of CFI’s initial major challenges are now effectively addressed. One is the operationalisation of the national unified cocoa traceability system, and the other is the operationalisation of the national spatial forest monitoring and deforestation early warning system. These two instruments are necessary to meet the requirements of the EUDR.”
Chris Vincent, WCF President commented “These achievements underscore the power of collaboration in driving sustainable change. The progress made in forest conservation and climate adaptation is a testament to the commitment of all stakeholders involved in the Cocoa & Forests Initiative.”
Speaking in the foreword to the report, he added: “Signatory companies continued their CFI related investments. From 2021 to 2023, they invested $197 million in Ivory Coast on projects that supported CFI’s objectives. 82% of these companies direct supplies chains are now traceable to the plot level in the country, and in the last year, 600,000 Ivorian farmers received technical assistance to professionalise and optimise cocoa farming practices.
“During the year, farmers developed 114,000 hectares of cocoa agroforestry thanks to CFI-related support, and separately, to increase forest cover, 763,000 trees were distributed for off-farm restoration efforts,” he explained, adding that the partnership would enable the sector to make further progress on the major issue of forest protection and restoration, while strengthening farmer livelihoods.
Daan Wensing, CEO IDH, added: “As IDH we will further support CFI to intensify efforts to increase transparency and accountability within the initiative. Based on solid data, partners can foster innovation and adaptability in transforming the cocoa sector.”
