The acute problems blighting the cocoa trade in Côte d’Ivoire are at risk of spreading like a contagion into Central Africa. But the EUDR can help smallholder growers understand the broader context in which they operate and better fight for their rights, write Salomon Essaga and Christian Ngoube Ngoube, of the Centre for Environment and Development (CED).
The environmental damage that cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire causes – and the struggles the country’s cocoa farmers face to make ends meet – is well documented.
Today, the risk of this damage spreading and happening on a grand scale in Central Africa is growing, as cocoa production increases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo (RoC) and our own country, Cameroon.
Production is set to explode in these countries over the next few years, with Cameroon and the RoC set to increase production significantly. Cameroon – where 46% of the territory is covered by tropical forests and primary forests are rapidly disappearing – is already the third-largest cocoa producer in Africa and the fourth largest in the world.
Cocoa production’s expansion poses serious threats to these heavily forested countries: to biodiversity and to people’s livelihoods – as cocoa farmers generally do not receive the benefits that they should from this staple product.
Countering this growing threat is therefore a matter of urgency. It requires a unified approach, in which strategies and knowledge are shared to achieve the common goal of protecting forests and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.
In that spirit, in July we gathered in Yaoundé with Fern and civil society representatives from Côte d’Ivoire (IDEF, Solidaridad West Africa and Inades formation) and the RoC (FGDH), where we held workshops exploring opportunities to collaborate and forge a common advocacy approach. We also visited small-scale cocoa farmers in the Lekie and Upper-Sanaga Divisions in the Central Region of Cameroon – both cocoa production hotspots – to understand their realities and to raise their awareness of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
Raising awareness
The field visit was important on several levels.
We learned about the way that smallholder cocoa farmers plant and harvest, and the challenges they face. And they learned about the EUDR, what it entails and how it will affect them.
These smallholders are generally isolated in rural communities, but the EUDR can help them understand the broader context in which they operate. Producing cocoa is not simply a matter of farming cocoa and selling it. They are part of a system, and if they are structured, they can better defend their rights within that system.
The smallholders whom we met are prepared to adjust to the requirements of sustainable and legal production. Most cocoa produced in Cameroon is agroforest cocoa – which is in the longer-term interest of the farmers.
We also realised that we have a lot of work to do, particularly in raising awareness about the opportunities the EUDR offers smallholders, and supporting them to adjust to its requirements.
More needs to be done to make smallholders aware of cocoa production’s impact on forests. This is particularly vital as climate change is already making its impact felt, with cocoa production falling as a result.
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