Sucden group asserts progress on CFI initiative tackling West African cocoa deforestation

Major French-based cocoa group, Sucden, has unveiled its latest progress report on its work addressing deforestation as part of the industry-wide CFI initiative in Ghana and Ivory Coast, writes Neill Barston.

As the company noted, the context of the project – which was recently re-purposed in a ‘2.0’ form aimed at scaling up the cross-sector venture that began in 2017 with 35 signatories including confectionery majors Barry Callebaut, Cargill, Hershey, Mars and Mondelez among its contributors.

While progress has been collectively claimed by collaborators to the venture, as previously reported by the scheme, non-profit organisation Mighty Earth has reported that significant swathes of forest are still being lost in West Africa nation, with logging, cocoa and illegal gold mining operations said to be removing forested areas amounting to the size of a European city each year across Ghana and Ivory Coast.

For its part, Sucden, which has its headquarters in Paris, has acknowledge that challenges remain, and cited Global Forest Watch figures that revealed between 2002 and 2023, the two key producing nations have indeed experienced heightened issues as a direct result of combined commercial activities.

The organisation has stated that during that twenty year period alone, Ivory Coast lost 28% and Ghana 13% of their humid primary forest, with a large portion of this loss attributable to cocoa farming expansion.

As Sucden noted, cocoa remains a primary economic source for rural  Africa, but it acknowledged that farmers are too often faced with poverty, which stands a root cause of deforestation. In response, it asserted that accelerating a  transition to sustainable livelihoods is essential for agricultural communities’ economic security and a healthy planet.

For its part, measures included expanding polygon mapping cocoa farms to better monitor for deforestation risk, as well as supporting the establishment of community nurseries. There has also been uncreased seedling distribution for agroforestry development, plus growing off-farm restoration efforts, as well as pursuing efforts to support farmers secure land certificates.

The group also reached a greater number of farmers through good agricultural practices training than in previous seasons. It also built on lessons learned and further developed direct farmer coaching efforts, and expanded the Climate Smart Agriculture training to include regenerative agriculture techniques

Furthermore, the business also extended the reach of village savings and loans associations. to support more women Increased participation in Income Generating Activities Trained a greater number of women on business practices and financial literacy than in previous seasons

In reporting its results for 2023/2024, the company noted that in the present calendar year, it had target the mapping of 6,226 farms, and achieved 2,633 against that figure from its own direct investment. In addition, working on behalf of clients, the business also mapped a further 38,900 farms.

Against a target of 13,000 hectares of land for this year, it had geomapped a total of 2,274ha from direct investment, as well as handling 45,000 hectares for other clients.

In terms of other inputs, the company said that it had targeted 3,000 homes for cocoa seedling distribution, and while none of this was from its own direct investment, it attained a total of 8,000 homes reached on behalf of other actors.

For the number of farmers receiving technical agricultural support and advice, it had a target of 5,337 individuals, attaining some 1,881 from its own resources, yet assisting a far greater number as a third-party, assisting some additional 20,000 people in their agricultural operations.

In a statement on its progress within the report, Sucden said: “Collaborative multi-stakeholder initiatives can help drive impact to advance the global climate agenda, including forest protection, deforestation mitigation, carbon emission reduction, support for vulnerable communities, and farmer resilience building.

“The Cocoa and Forests Initiative stands as a pivotal platform for industry leaders such as Sucden to actively contribute towards these essential objectives. Throughout 2023-24, Sucden continued its commitments, aligning efforts with the pillars of the Cocoa and Forests Initiative and the Sustainable Development Goals.”