Cameroon Cocoa Boom Raises Deforestation Fears 

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Cameroon is emerging arsenic a caller frontier for cocoa production, raising concerns astir cocoa-driven deforestation, according to not-for-profit group Mighty Earth.  

In a caller report, Mighty Earth warns nan cardinal African state is “becoming nan adjacent awesome hotspot for cocoa-driven deforestation”. 

Cameroon is experiencing a cocoa roar arsenic apical producers specified arsenic Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire are facing declining productivity owed to world heating, harvest illness and outdated farming practices. 

Europe, which imports complete 50% of world cocoa beans and accounts for 75% of cocoa sales, is Cameroon’s largest export market.  

During nan 2023/24 season, 80% of nan country’s cocoa was exported to nan EU. 

The report, utilising outer imagery and section investigations successful regions specified arsenic Nkondjock, Yabassi, and Njombe, reveals ongoing cocoa-driven deforestation, Mighty Earth said. 

The NGO warns nan deforestation could perchance break nan EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), group to return effect successful December aft already being postponed. Under nan directive, companies trading products including cocoa, java and thenar lipid successful nan EU will person to show their proviso chains are free from deforestation-related impacts.

The EUDR mandates companies trading products for illustration cocoa successful nan EU to guarantee deforestation-free proviso chains. 

Mighty Earth cautioned that without urgent and coordinated action from companies, nan EU, and nan Cameroonian government, smallholders consequence losing entree to their largest marketplace erstwhile nan EUDR authorities is enforced.  

Thea Parson, elder subordinate astatine Mighty Earth and co-author of nan report, said: “To safeguard Cameroon’s entree to its biggest market, nan EU, and forestall further wood loss, farmers request to beryllium amended supported to amended practices, meet EUDR compliance and beryllium reasonably compensated.  

“The EUDR gives Cameroon a chance to return a different way – but only if companies enactment now to guarantee afloat traceability. So far, they are falling short.”

Since 2020, Cameroon has mislaid complete 781,000 ha of forest, pinch half of this nonaccomplishment occurring successful cocoa-growing regions, nan Mighty Earth study read.

In immoderate areas, wood screen has declined by much than 40% complete nan past 5 years, it added. 

Despite higher farmgate prices successful Cameroon compared to Ghana aliases Côte d’Ivoire, 69% of cocoa farming households unrecorded beneath nan poorness line, nan NGO said.

Farmers person little for their beans owed to intermediaries known arsenic “coxeurs”, who return important margins, leaving farmers underpaid and complicating proviso concatenation traceability.  

The strategy often results successful beans from deforested areas being mixed pinch those from monitored farms, threatening companies’ deforestation-free sourcing commitments.

Mighty Earth has urged companies to analyse deforestation risk, people farm-level maps, merge coxeurs into traceability systems, and guarantee a surviving costs for farmers.  

The Cameroonian authorities should create a nationalist cocoa guidance system, merchandise mapped workplace boundaries, incentivize cocoa increasing connected degraded land, and modulate coxeurs, it added.

Meanwhile, nan NGO recommended nan EU standard up method and financial assistance for EUDR compliance, show and enforce compliance and activity pinch nan Cameroonian authorities and cocoa manufacture stakeholders. 

Amourlaye Touré, elder advisor for Africa astatine Mighty Earth, added: “Cocoa-driven deforestation is fundamentally linked to poorness – erstwhile farmers tin not gain capable from existing land, expanding into forests becomes a endurance strategy.  

“With astir farmers successful Cameroon surviving beneath nan poorness line, nonstop financial incentives – specified arsenic amended prices for deforestation-free cocoa aliases method assistance to boost yields are captious to protecting Cameroon’s forests and nan critically endangered wildlife that unrecorded there.”

Just Food approached nan European Cocoa Association for comment.

Earlier this month, Cadbury proprietor Mondelēz International called for a further delay to nan implementation of EUDR. 

Massimiliano Di Domenico, Mondelez’s vice president of firm and authorities affairs successful Europe, told Just Food that to “deliver existent effect connected nan ground, nan EUDR regularisation must beryllium workable, not conscionable successful principle, but successful practice”.  

He warned that “without much clip to build systems connected nan ground, compliant cocoa risks being unopen retired of nan EU – harming farmers, expanding costs for businesses, and disrupting proviso chains”.

However, a missive co-signed by rival cocoa makers Nestlé, Ferrero and Tony’s Chocolonely urged The European Commission to guarantee “the afloat preservation and swift, eager implementation” of nan EUDR.