Three years after Zurich-based Barry Callebaut signed the Cocoa and Forests Initiative (CFI) much progress has been made on traceability and other positive enterprises. The CFI aims to ensure sustainable cocoa farming to end deforestation in the two largest cocoa producing countries in the world, the Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Mapping
Pablo Perversi, Barry Callebaut’s Chief Innovation, Sustainability and Quality Officer, said: "The first step for the implementation of the CFI is to guarantee as a company that you are not directly sourcing from protected forest areas, which means knowing where your cocoa farmers are located and where they are sourcing from.”
Perversi continued to say that he is extremely pleased Barry Callebaut has mapped 100% of the farms and warehouses in its direct supply chain at risk of sourcing from protected forest areas. This includes all cocoa farms within 5 km from a protected area and all cocoa warehouses within 25 km from a protected area.
By the end of 2019, the company has plans to map all the farms in the Ivory Coast and Ghana in its direct supply chain, establishing 100% traceability for its direct supply chain in these two countries.
Thanks to this mapping the specialist manufacturer of chocolate and cocoa products can now exclude any cocoa purchases from farms fully or partly located within a protected area boundary.
Other Endeavors
Barry Callebaut is also developing agricultural projects with partners in these two countries to restore previous cocoa land into agroforestry farming, incorporating shade and commercial tree species.
“We have so far distributed over 1.8 million young cocoa seedlings for replanting in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Until 2022, we aim to distribute 3.2 million cocoa seedlings to this purpose. Furthermore, we have so far distributed almost 390,000 shade trees for replanting in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana,” said Perversi.
Perversi expressed concern that the when farms are found at risk of sourcing from National Parks and Reserves, the government needed to employ safeguards to find alternative livelihoods for the farmers. Systematic change is needed, including encouraging farmers to train in order to produce more cocoa on existing land.
“Together with participating farmers, we are developing customised Farm Business Plans, whereby we advise on the best mix of seedlings and fertilisers, and support farmers to access labour on credit for each farm,” said Perversi
Last year, more than 7,000 farmers used Barry Callecaut’s Farm Development Plan, with a further 167,000 farmers involved in sustainability programmes.