The Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI), the largest and first sector-wide public-private partnership in the cocoa industry, has released its latest annual report.

The report said in 2023, CFI made significant strides in traceability systems, forest conservation and climate adaptation.

The report noted that despite it being a challenging year marked by erratic weather patterns, an increase in pests and diseases and illegal mining clearing cocoa farms, “the commitment of companies and governments to CFI has remained steadfast.”

It said given the current challenges facing the cocoa sector, this commitment and collaboration are more crucial now than ever.

Key highlights:

Traceability

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

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).

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.

Priority Landscapes and Forests

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, which are also critical for cocoa production in both countries.

•             Côte d’Ivoire: 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.

•             Ghana: In 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.

Climate Adaptation and Mitigation

Progress continues in achieving positive carbon impact and climate adaptation through private-sector engagement. Côte d’Ivoire is actively developing carbon policies aligned with the UNFCCC National Determined Contributions.

Ghana received its first result-based payment of nearly $ 5 million for reducing 972,456 tons of carbon emissions 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 developments align closely with CFI’s progress on 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, Côte d’Ivoire, said: “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.”

Mr Samuel A. Jinapor, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Ghana, commented: “Deforestation and climate change are common enemies that must be fought through a collaborative approach. The Government of Ghana remains fully committed to the CFI process, and we are happy that the private sector is equally committed to advancing the objectives of this noble Initiative.”

Chris Vincent, WCF President noted: “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.”

Daan Wensing, CEO of IDH, said: “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” he concluded.