Cocoa & Forests Initiative

Collective Action to End Cocoa-Related Deforestation

Deforestation is a major issue in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, which together produce nearly two-thirds of the world’s supply of cocoa. Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana respectively lost 25% and 8% of their primary forest between 2002-2019, with a significant portion of deforestation due to cocoa farming.

To end deforestation and restore forest areas, the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana and 36 leading cocoa and chocolate companies have joined together in the Cocoa & Forests Initiative since 2017.

Here are key actions by cocoa and chocolate companies:

The Cocoa & Forests Initiative Journey

At the November 2017 UN Climate Change Conference (COP23), the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana and leading chocolate and cocoa companies signed the Cocoa & Forests Initiative Frameworks for Action.

In March 2019, another milestone was reached to strengthen transparency and accountability in the cocoa supply chain: the signatories released action plans that spell out concrete steps to end cocoa-related deforestation. The action plans focus on:

• Forest protection and restoration
• Sustainable cocoa production and farmers’ livelihoods
• Community engagement and social inclusion

In 2020, the Cocoa & Forests Initiative reported on the first two years of implementation. Cocoa and chocolate companies focused on teaching farmers to grow more cocoa on less land, planting forest trees, and mapping farms to understand better where their cocoa comes from.

Visit Francis’s farm and learn how he is coping with climate change:

The Cocoa & Forests Initiative Eight Core Commitments

In line with Sustainable Development Goals 13 (Climate Action) and 15 (Life on Land) and the Paris Climate Agreement, Cocoa & Forests Initiative companies and governments have committed to:

1. Prohibit and prevent activities in the cocoa sector that cause or contribute to any further deforestation or forest degradation. For Côte d’Ivoire, this relates to National Parks and Reserves, as well as Classified Forests, and conserved forests in the rural domain, such as sacred forests. For Ghana, this relates to Wildlife Sanctuaries, Wildlife Resource Reserves, Forest Reserves, and unprotected off-reserve forest lands.
2. Respect the rights of cocoa farmers, including identifying and mitigating social risks, and sequencing the implementation of actions to minimize potential adverse social and economic impacts;
3. Promote the effective restoration and long-term conservation of National Parks and Reserves, and Classified Forests in Côte d’Ivoire; and of National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Wildlife Resource Reserves, Forest Reserves, and unprotected off-reserve forest lands in Ghana;
4. Strengthen supply chain mapping, with the end goal of full traceability at the farm-level;
5. Implement verifiable actions and timebound targets on the basis of sound data, robust and credible methodologies, stakeholder consultation, and realistic timeframes;
6. Implement agreed actions in the context of a broader landscape-level approach, with strong links with similar initiatives in other commodities, and full alignment with the national REDD+ strategy and other relevant national strategies and plans such as the new Ghana Cocoa Sector Development Strategy II and the Ivorian Forest Protection, Restoration and Extension Strategy (SPREF);
7. Work together to implement the Framework actions, and mobilize the necessary financing, resources and technical support for implementation, including continued engagement in a multi-stakeholder process for dialogue on key issues, development of effective implementation plans, joint learning and knowledge sharing and enable institutional capacity;
8. Provide effective monitoring and reporting on progress on commitments and actions to ensure transparency and accountability.

Colombia: the Cocoa, Forests & Peace Initiative

In 2018, Colombia became the first country from Latin America to join Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire on signing on to the principles of the Initiative. Through the Cocoa, Forests and Peace Initiative, the Government of Colombia, WCF members Compañía Nacional de Chocolates and Luker Chocolate, and the National Cocoa Federation are committed to eliminate deforestation from the country’s cocoa supply chain.

The commitment is supported by the World Resources Institute and IDH-the Sustainable Trade Initiative.