The governments and 35 companies in the Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI) have reported significant progress toward ending deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. 

Companies are also investing in extensive scale farmer training for better livelihoods and less incentive to encroach into forests.

Actions in 2020 included more agroforestry development with the distribution of 6 million non-cocoa trees by cocoa and chocolate companies in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. This brings the total number of forest trees supplied by the private sector since the launch of CFI to 10.4 million. 

“1 day, 5 million trees” 
Governments’ efforts have focused on applying the revamped frameworks that support the implementation of CFI. This includes awareness-raising campaigns on the new Forest Code in Côte d’Ivoire, with the “1 day, 5 million trees” campaign planting one tree for every five Ivorians.

To further develop cocoa agroforestry, 10 million trees are currently in nurseries and will be distributed to Ivorian farmers in 2021. Côte d’Ivoire intends to extend forest cover to 20 percent of the country by 2030 (up from 11 percent in 2015).

In Ghana, the government strongly focuses on delivering on the Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Program (GCFRP) and has restored almost 226,000 hectares of forest area. Landscape-level approaches are being developed in priority areas such as Asunafo-Asutifi, Bia-Juaboso, Kakum and Bibiani-AnwiansoSefwi-Wiawso, in partnership with companies, NGOs and local communities. 

Improving traceability
This work will be accelerated in 2021 with the recently announced partnership between the Ghana Forestry Commission and World Cocoa Foundation (WCF).

All signatories are improving the traceability of the cocoa supply chain. The government of Côte d’Ivoire mapped all cocoa farms through a national operation conducted by the Conseil du Café-Cacao. 

Companies reached on average 82 percent (Ghana) and 74 percent (Côte d’Ivoire) traceability in their direct supply chains and mapped about 605,000 cocoa farms in both countries. To address indirect sourcing through intermediaries, the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana have both launched work on national systems to achieve full traceability of the entire cocoa supply chain. 

To complement that mapping effort and monitor deforestation, the government of Côte d’Ivoire has adopted the satellite monitoring system for the Cocoa & Forests Initiative.

Tangible results
According to Chris Vincent, interim president at WCF, the company’s work for forest positive cocoa is more urgent than ever. “We seem to be on the right track for tangible results. These joint progress reports are a testimony to the resilience of the sector and our excellent public/private collaboration on ending deforestation,” he explains. 

“Cocoa and chocolate companies want to continue landscape approaches with local partners, ramp up the adoption of agroforestry and forest restoration in degraded areas, and partner on traceability and satellite monitoring with governments.”

Jonas Mva Mva, program director for cocoa at IDH, adds: “In this time of crisis, it is more important than ever to accelerate our joint efforts toward ending deforestation and restoring forest areas. In the following years, we will continue to empower signatories to meet their commitments and together increase the transparency and sustainability of the cocoa sector.” 

Spotlight on the cocoa sector
Several advancements in the cocoa sector focus on tackling deforestation, which is a growing concern for many cocoa-producing countries. 

Earlier this week, Barry Callebaut launched a first-of-its-kind, large-scale indicative High Carbon Stock (HCS) map covering Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Last month, Cargill shone a light on the importance of protecting the forests in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. In the company’s Cocoa & Forests Initiative report, Cargill revealed that progress and restoration is being made through farm mapping and traceable supply chains.

Also, Nestlé recently stepped up sustainability efforts to protect and restore forests while also outlining that the iconic KitKat brand will be carbon neutral by 2025.