Building on that progress, CFI: Partnering for Impact marks the next phase of this flagship platform - evolving from project delivery to systems-level impact. Through targeted advocacy, streamlined reporting and shared frameworks, CFI continues to demonstrate how credible collaboration can protect forests, reduce emissions and strengthen sustainable cocoa production.

2026 Strategy

CFI: Partnering for Impact

CFI brings together the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, leading cocoa and chocolate companies under a single commitment: to safeguard forests and promote climate-resilient, sustainable cocoa.

Under WCF’s 2026 strategy, CFI is evolving into a solutions-focused platform that strengthens collaboration across the cocoa sector and supports more consistent approaches to forest protection, restoration and reporting.

Together, these workstreams ensure that CFI continues to drive collective action, accelerate measurable progress and reinforce the sector’s leadership in forest protection and restoration.

Forest Protection & Restoration

CFI works with industry, national governments and sector partners to support enabling environments for more resilient and sustainable cocoa. Priority areas include:

  • Strengthening national monitoring systems through improved land-use mapping and more consistent approaches to deforestation risk assessment.
  • Supporting aligned methodologies and advocating for improved policies that enable companies to measure progress towards Scope 3 targets and invest in credible restoration and reforestation activities.

Reporting Alignment

CFI supports greater consistency across reporting approaches, including frameworks such as ARS-1000, ISO standards and the Rainforest Alliance requirements. This work aims to:

  • Strengthen transparency and demonstrate credible progress toward forest protection, forest restoration and achieving climate goals aligned with a 1.5°C pathway.
  • Reduce duplication and unnecessary compliance costs.
  • Promote more consistent definitions, indicators and reporting approaches.
  • Strengthen the evidence base available for policy engagement and operational decision-making.

Reinforce WCF’s commitment to credible, transparent reporting as a foundation for sustainability leadership.

Uniting for Forest-Safe Cocoa

CFI brings together the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, leading cocoa and chocolate companies, and development partners under a single commitment: to safeguard forests and promote climate-resilient, sustainable cocoa. The new CFI strategy focuses on two connected workstreams:

  • Advocacy for Forest Protection and Restoration — enabling the policy and institutional conditions that make large-scale impact possible
  • Reporting Standardisation — aligning data and measurement across global frameworks to improve credibility, reduce duplication and turn information into influence

Together, these workstreams ensure that CFI continues to drive collective action, accelerate measurable progress and reinforce the sector’s leadership in forest protection and restoration.

Proof of Progress on the Ground

CFI’s first phase has delivered tangible results across producing countries. These achievements have helped position CFI as the reference point for credible, data-driven forest protection across the cocoa sector.

Traceability

83% of directly sourced cocoa from participating companies in Ghana and 82% in Côte d’Ivoire was traceable to the plot level in 2023.

Deforestation Risk Assessment

CFI has strengthened the sector’s ability to identify and assess deforestation risk through more consistent methodologies, data and approaches.

Agroforestry & Reforestation

43 Million multipurpose trees distributed since 2018, including 10 million in 2023 alone. 

Shared Methodologies and Tools

Shared methodologies and tools enable the cocoa sector to consistently measure and address key sustainability issues across supply chains.

 

Field story

To be able to trace cocoa from farm to first point of purchase, all farmers need to be geo-located and their farm size measured. Jean-Marie explains what that means in his daily job in the Meagui region in Côte d’Ivoire.

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“CFI remains the sector’s leading collaborative platform for forest protection and climate-positive cocoa production. Partnering for Impact builds on our shared achievements and positions the industry to meet future challenges with confidence and accountability.”

Chris Vincent
President, World Cocoa Foundation

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