The Roadmap to Deforestation-free Cocoa is a public, private, civil society partnership that aims to end cocoa-related deforestation in Cameroon. It builds on the Cocoa & Forests Initiative’s Statement of Intent signed by the industry in 2017, through which companies committed to working together, pre competitively, to end deforestation and forest degradation in the cocoa supply chain.

The Roadmap is developed with three driving objectives:

• Conservation of National Parks and forested land, as well as restoration of forests that have been degraded by human activities, in particular encroachment by cocoa farms among other factors.
• Sustainable intensification and diversification of income in order to increase farmers’ yields and livelihood, to grow “more cocoa on less land” and thereby reduce pressure on forests.
• Engagement and empowerment of cocoa-growing communities.

© Anne Nzouankeu

Actions of the Framework:

The Roadmap will help create a competitive advantage for Cameroonian cocoa in the global market, help coordinate public-private-civil society efforts to achieve higher and more stable cocoa quality and promote greater cocoa sustainability by promoting cocoa agroforestry.

Specific actions under development are:

• A national traceability system to identify and track the history, distribution and application of products, parts and materials to ensure the reliability of sustainability claims in the areas of human rights, labour (including health and safety), the environment and anti-corruption.
• A satellite-based monitoring system with deforestation alerts to help signatories of the Roadmap monitor cocoa-related deforestation.

The Framework for Action of this roadmap was developed through a participatory process that was launched in Yaoundé on 31 January 2019. This process brought together representatives of the Government of Cameroon, public and private sector actors, national and international civil society organizations, farmer organizations, research institutions, development partners and other stakeholders in Cameroon and at the global level. Over time, more than 200 stakeholders have been involved in this consultation process.

The Roadmap to Deforestation-free Cocoa is led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development. The process is facilitated by IDH, the Sustainable Initiative, though funding from its institutional donors: BUZA (The Netherlands) SECO (Switzerland) and DANIDA (Denmark).