Environmental Protection
The environmental concerns in cocoa production are global in scope, ranging from Latin America, through Southeast Asia to West Africa. Surprisingly, environmental concerns are relatively recent additions to the global sustainability discourse in cocoa, although issues such as changing weather patterns, deforestation and the loss of natural ecosystems have been felt and challenged by communities in the Global South for many years. Many of these issues are either rooted in, or exacerbated by, the poverty of cocoa farming households.
Deforestation
Cocoa production is a driver of deforestation in all cocoa growing regions of the world. In West Africa, almost all of the old-growth rainforests have disappeared, with dramatic consequences for local climate patterns. The majority of this dramatic tree cover loss has been within cocoa-growing regions of both countries. The last remaining national forests are under pressure, or already damaged, with cocoa as a key driver of this destruction.
Effects of deforestation
Deforestation has a range of negative impacts. The most obvious of these is the loss of biodiversity and habitat, with extinction of many forms of flora and fauna as a direct result. The loss of forests also means a loss of livelihoods for people who depend on forest resources for their food, fuel, medicine and building materials. Forests have a tremendous climatological contribution; acting as massive carbon absorption and storage systems, forests play a key role in mitigating climate change. They contribute to soil and water quality and flood prevention. Deforestation disturbs local, regional, and global water cycles, and this can result in less clouds, lower humidity, and modified patterns of rainfall.
New Frontiers of Deforestation
Where a lot of the attention on deforestation in cocoa is focused on the major cocoa growing nations of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, urgent attention is needed for the so called ‘New Frontiers of Deforestation’ in cocoa. There are still major rainforests left in the world, such as the Amazon and Congo basins. It is essential that they are protected from encroachment by cocoa – as well as by other commodities. Other countries – such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in Africa, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Brazil in Latin America, and Indonesia in Asia – need the urgent attention of the cocoa sector for forest protection.
Galamsey/Gold Mining
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining– known in Ghana as Galamsey – has become a major problem in cocoa growing areas in Ghana and increasingly in Côte d’Ivoire. Farmer poverty, as well as the threat of force of the criminal elements involved in this illicit sector, are further driving cocoa farms to be transformed into barren and polluted landscapes.
Climate Change
Changing weather patterns due to climate change are a daily reality in many cocoa producing regions. Its impact can differ wildly depending on locality; unpredictable weather patterns and extreme weather events including extended droughts or severely increased rainfall have a direct impact on the overall health of the trees, disease incidence, and the ability to set flowers and produce fruit.
Agroforestry
Cocoa agroforestry systems can bring a wide range of ecological benefits, such as biodiversity conservation of flora and fauna, carbon sequestration, preserving and strengthening soil moisture and fertility, contributing to pest control, and microclimatic control such as stimulating rainfall. Cocoa agroforestry systems can and should provide additional income opportunities to farmers, and to serve as incentive for farmers to invest and maintain agroforestry systems in cocoa producing origins.
Agrochemicals
The widespread promotion of agrochemicals is one of many examples of the cocoa sector’s attempts to find quick-fix solutions to larger and systemic challenges, such as declining soil fertility from intensive monoculture cocoa production. However, there are many environmental and health risks. And though there can be short-term benefits in the use of agrochemicals, there are serious questions around the business model for farmers.
The Role of VOICE Network
We have driven support for regulations in cocoa after decades of deceiving voluntary initiatives. By convening the European Cocoa Coalition with industry actors, strengthening the voice of civil society within the ISCOs and more globally, we played a key role in facilitating the adoption of the EU Deforestation Regulation and the inclusion of a living income and purchasing practices in the CSDDD. These landmark policies are driving accountability and environmental sustainability across the cocoa sector. The next challenge is ensuring these regulations are fully implemented, not weakened, and complemented by policies in other consuming markets such as the US, UK, Japan, and Australia. At the same time, we must ensure that smallholder farmers are equipped to meet compliance requirements and do not bear the costs of transition alone.
However, not all solutions are found on regulations and we will also push for a variety of interventions that go beyond demand-side regulations, including more research and advocacy on forest restoration, agroforestry, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Cocoa Barometer
To read more about the environmental challenges in the cocoa sector, we suggest the Environmental Challenges chapter in the latest Cocoa Barometer.
