Deforestation and the risk-based link to cocoa


By Dr. Tim Sandle
April 24, 2024

A new black gold? Biochar from cocoa bean shells - Copyright AFP Axel Heimken

A new investigation has revealed that cocoa beans exported from Côte d’Ivoire to the European Union originate from deforested land in neighbouring Liberia. The matter has been raised at the fifth World Cocoa Conference (which took place between 21-24 April 2024 in Belgium).

This suggests that a European Union law on deforestation needs to be strengthened so that supply chain traceability mechanisms improve significantly. Côte d’Ivoire is the world’s largest producer of cocoa, with 75 percent of its production absorbed within Europe.

With the European Union legal requirement, as of December 2024, it will be illegal to import and market cocoa beans that, after 2020, were harvested on plots of land deforested to create plantations.

The suggestion is based on a field investigation presented by the campaign organisation Initiatives for Community Development and Forest Conservation (IDEF) and it infers that the traceability mechanisms used by some companies involved with cocoa beans are flawed and do not comply with the anti-deforestation regulation in place.

Demand for cocoa beans is increasing globally and they are part of a complex market made up of a variety of parties acting as intermediaries between small, poorly paid cocoa farmers and retailers.

A consequence of the expansion is that thousands of hectares of forest have been destroyed to make way for cocoa plantations.

The findings lead to the investigators to argue that these mechanisms should be replaced by the robust and transparent national traceability system now in place in Côte d’Ivoire.

According to Bakary Traoré, Executive Director of the Ivorian IDEF: “Work is currently underway in Côte d’Ivoire to set up a national traceability system. Under this system, all plots of land in Côte d’Ivoire will be geolocated, and producers will be registered.”

Traoré adds: “A map of producers, including a barcode system, will also indicate what individual farms are able to produce and track their sales. Our investigation shows the importance of speeding up the work begun by the Ivorian authorities.”

Furthermore, Traoré explains: “Current traceability systems were set up by the chocolate companies and are controlled by them. They are not transparent, and our investigation found them to be flawed. To resolve the problem and comply with new European regulations, traders in raw materials will have to change their approach.”

The situation is driving Ivorian growers to migrate to the fertile lands of neighbouring Liberia, home to more than half of West Africa’s remaining tropical forests. This means that new deforestation taking place.

Furthermore, there is also a lack of infrastructure in Liberia for growers to export their beans. As a result, once harvested, the cocoa beans are carried back to Côte d’Ivoire on people’s backs.

The investigators also call on the EU to put in place robust controls as part of the due diligence required by the legislation to help curb this.