The clearing of forests is a global problem. For this reason, the World Cocoa Foundation in partnership with the private sector and a couple of African governments decided to face this problem, and also mitigate climate change
The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) announced that 33 companies representing 85% of the world’s cocoa-based products announced a common plan, along with Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, countries that produce 65% of the grain in the world, to reduce deforestation.
“This is the first time governments and industry have worked together to achieve a common plan of action”, said Richard Scobey, president of the WCF, based in Washington. The companies, among them great names of cocoa and chocolate worldwide (Nestlé, Ferrero, Barry Callebaut, Cémoi, Hershey, Lindt, Mars Wrigley or Mondelez) will announce in 3 weeks the measures they intend to take.
In the case of Côte d’Ivoire, the goal is to reach 20% forest cover in 2030, compared to 11% in 2015, the foundation said. “We want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, restore biodiversity, and promote a balanced economic and environmental development of cocoa farmers”, Scobey pointed out in a telephone interview.
The plan responds to the commitments made in November 2017 in Bonn (Germany) during a United Nations conference on climate change. Among other measures, it is planned to map the plantations, create systems to guarantee that the cocoa comes from legal plantations, outside the protected areas, and invest in techniques that allow producing “more cocoa on less land”.
