AGROFORESTRY IN THE CHOCOLATE SCORECARD

Dr Cristiana Bernardi

Cristiana Bernardi is a Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Financial Management at The Open University Business School (UK). Her main research interests fall within the general area of financial reporting, particularly in the field of sustainability reporting. Thinking outside the box enables the creation of a more sustainable future!

Though cocoa has been a major driver of deforestation worldwide, it can become the reverse - an agent of re-greening around the planet. “Researchers from the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, supported by UN REDD and CocoaSoils,” found that in Côte d'Ivoire, “implementing agroforestry in current cocoa growing areas alone could potentially help to store an extra 120 million metric tons of carbon.” These researchers argue that “assuming the full potential for cocoa agroforestry is met in these areas, the national goal of 20% forest cover could be met” for Côte d’Ivoire. 

Agroforestry, as opposed to pesticide-soaked monoculture, is a more ecologically sound way of growing cocoa and restoring farming landscapes. When people refer to cocoa grown in regenerative agriculture models - or ‘nature positive’ cocoa - they often are actually referring to robust agroforestry systems of cocoa growing. Scientific research demonstrates that robust agroforestry cocoa systems are better for the planet, as they can increase carbon sequestration, improve soil health and air moisture retention, support biodiversity, as well as deliver substantial enhancement of farmers’ food security and income diversification. When farmers monocrop, they are hostage to the vicissitudes of market shocks in the price of cocoa; when they produce multiple crops to diversify their income, this can protect them if a market shock occurs. Overall, when crafted properly, agroforestry cocoa systems are a win-win for people and the planet, farmers, and forests.

We analysed the responses in the following areas for this category:

1. Any agroforestry policy – and its definition;

2. Application of the agroforestry policy, globally or to West Africa only;

3. Assessment and monitoring of the agroforestry policy;

4. Support for and investment in farmers within the supply chain to transition to agroforestry growing methods; and

5. A target year to source 100% of the cocoa grown in an agroforestry setting.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines agroforestry as: “(…) a dynamic, ecologically based, natural resource management system that, through the integration of trees on farms and in the agricultural landscape, diversifies and sustains production for increased social, economic and environmental benefits for land users at all levels”.

Over the past years, the practice of agroforestry has been gaining growing momentum in cocoa farming as farmers recognise the importance of protecting their land to mitigate the threatening risks of climate change. A recent study from the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), in collaboration with the UN-REDD Programme and the CocoaSoils initiative, outlines the potential for targeted cocoa agroforestry implementation to help restore forest cover in the Côte d’Ivoire, the biggest cocoa producer country in the world. In 2021, the Smithsonian published an electronic library of all peer-reviewed scientific papers on cocoa agroforestry available to date, and also added papers on financing agroforestry, analyses of legal reforms needed to create an enabling environment for agroforestry, and agroforestry manuals.

Nonetheless, despite the wide array of ecological benefits that can be achieved with cocoa agroforestry systems, and the recent progress in industry embracing agroforestry, the results from our questionnaire reveal that as of now agroforestry in the cocoa sector is still far from its potential. As a result, the global transition from monocropping cocoa to diverse agroforestry systems has a long way to go.

To begin with, we note from our findings for the Chocolate Scorecard that a clear and widely agreed upon-definition of agroforestry is not in place across the cocoa industry. According to Nair (1993), agroforestry only implies an association between trees and cultivated crops. As a result, several types of agricultural systems can be referred to as agroforestry. As of today, a unified definition remains elusive and where some consensus can be found in clusters of companies agreeing on some definitions, such as Rainforest Alliance (RA), the Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI), Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (ISCO), and the Ivorian Government. We note that by large those are not entirely suitable definitions. They frequently fall short of

1. being farmer-centric;

2. an adequate number of trees per hectare;

3. an adequate percentage of shade per heactare;

4. an adequate number of canopy heights;

5. an adequate approach to prioritising native trees over invasive species; and

6. an adequate follow up to ensure the system isn’t failing (Sanial et al., 2020).

Therefore, it is of utmost importance for the cocoa industry and the governments of cocoa-producing nations to agree on what is meant by agroforestry, and for that shared definition to be based on the best available science.

We note from a review of all the answers to the Chocolate Scorecard that, although considerable efforts have been made by both industry and government entities, these have been slow to yield results on the ground. This is mainly because commitments have not been fully implemented or monitored by all key players involved.

Further, it could be argued that the development of agroforestry systems has not been addressed sufficiently in policy formulation. Both legal restrictions on land management and complex taxation frameworks hinder the sustainable development of agroforestry. Unless agroforestry is promoted and regulated through specific policies, it is unlikely that considerable steps forwards will be taken.

Another major challenge related to cocoa agroforestry is the inadequacy of monitoring systems. This is vital, because in some agroforestry projects, up to 90% of the non-cocoa trees planted end up dying. Monitoring to ensure continuity and success is therefore crucial. “Hit and run” agroforestry tree distribution campaigns without monitoring are unlikely to yield real change. As suggested by Sanial (2019), despite numerous tree distribution campaigns in Côte d’Ivoire, the survival rate of distributed trees is less than 2%. Even in those rare cases when trees survive distribution, many seeding trees are removed during weeding, because sharecroppers who are actually doing the work at the farm lack appropriate training on agroforestry practices (Uribe-Leitz and Ruf, 2019). Consequently, providing intensive training, education, and collaborative work with cocoa farmers and farm workers are critical to ensuring the successful transition from monoculture to agroforestry. In the end, monitoring agroforestry will require investing in technologies and process development for national traceability systems and farm mapping as well as aboveground carbon assessments with satellite mapping. Monitoring progress should be carried out on a regular basis in a collaborative and inclusive manner to enable local civil society and farmers to take part in the monitoring process alongside satellite mappers, scientific experts, government officials, and industry representatives.

Last but not least, the concepts of agroforestry and zero-deforestation are often confused. Agroforestry is not a replacement for natural forests, although it can contribute to compensating for past deforestation to a minor degree.

Despite these shortcomings, we were pleased to see that the 2022 Chocolate Scorecard revealed a massive uptick in the industry’s ambition and investment in agroforestry systems compared to the previous editions.

Chocolate Scorecard survey results

Grading for the Agroforestry theme was not always straightforward.

• According to the survey, most companies have an agroforestry policy that applies to all regions they source from. A global policy would be ideal.

• Only a minority of the respondents have an agroforestry policy that exclusively applies to West African sourcing. Companies with a West African only policy, should revise it to make it global.

• A small number of companies admitted to not having an agroforestry policy at all. This is not acceptable. All cocoa companies should have an agroforestry policy.

• Not all the companies provided us with clear-cut percentages of vegetation coverage, canopy cover, and species per hectare required. In some cases, narrative accounts were provided as an attempt to respond to the question. Further, we observed a number of companies not disclosing any figures at all.

  • Points were allotted for companies’ definitions of agroforestry. The better the definition, the better the score.

  • Points were allotted for the percentage of cocoa grown already in agroforestry systems. Again, the higher the percentage, the better the score.

  • Points were allotted for improvements as well, and for efforts to switch from monocropping to agroforestry systems. The bigger the switch, the better the score.

  • Points were allotted for the percentage of cocoa grown with RA certification, as RA does include a focus on agroforestry systems, and works with farmers to continuously improve their agroforestry performance. The higher the percentage, the better the score.

  • Points were allotted for monitoring.

• A few front-runner companies explicitly declared a target year to source 100% of their cocoa grown in an agroforestry setting.

References

Higonnet et. al. 2019. Cocoa and African Deforestation: Assessing the Cocoa and Forests Initiative in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Briefing paper. Mighty Earth, Washington, DC, USA. Available at: http://www.mightyearth.org/wp-content/uploads/Problems-and-solutions-concerning-the-CFI-in-Ghana-and-Co%CC%82te.-final.pdf.

Nair, P. K. R. (1993). An introduction to agroforestry. Dordrecht, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers in cooperation with International Centre for Research in Agroforestry.

Sanial, E. (2019). A la recherche de l'ombre, géographie des systèmes agroforestiers émergents en cacaoculture ivoirienne post-forestière. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338549035_A_la_recherche_de_l%27ombre_geographie_des_systemes_agroforestiers_emergents_en_cacaoculture_ivoirienne_post-forestiere.

Sanial, E., Fountain, A.C., Hoefsloot H. and Jezeer, R. (2020). Agroforestry in cocoa, a need for ambitious collaborative landscape approaches. Available at: https://www.voicenetwork.eu/2020/07/cocoa-barometer-consortium-releases-consultation-paper-on-agroforestry-in-the-cocoa-sector/

UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (2005). Realizing the economic benefits of agroforestry: experiences, lessons and challenges. Rome.

Uribe-Leitz, E. and Ruf, F. (2019). Cocoa Certification in West Africa: The Need for Change. In Michael Schmidt, Daniele Giovannucci, Dmitry Palekhov, Berthold Hansmann (Eds.): Sustainable global value chains, pp. 435-461. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14877-9_24.