The future
of chocolate is unclear
Chocolate is on the mind of many
people as Valentine’s Day approaches, but new research by University of
Victoria geographer Sophia Carodenuto reveals troubling questions about the
sustainability of this sweet treat. Her paper provides specific recommendations for the future of cocoa farming in some of the world’s key cocoa-producing countries—Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon—amidst the pressures of climate change, soil erosion and excessive forest loss.
Since 2012, Carodenuto has been
working with government agencies and cocoa farmers to identify options for
improving the sustainability of cocoa in the three West African countries,
where roughly three-quarters of the world’s cocoa is produced by an estimated
two million cocoa farmers.
The business of chocolate is
shifting. Two years ago, 12 of the world's leading cocoa and chocolate
companies made a collective public commitment to end the deforestation
associated with the global cocoa supply chain.
The new paper closely examines the emerging pledge to “zero deforestation cocoa” by public and private interests—the global chocolate companies who sell, purchase, grind and trade the cocoa beans and the government officials who regulate land use and agriculture extension—to ensure socioeconomic progress of cocoa farmers while confronting the domestic political policies to reduce deforestation and alleviate poverty.
The new paper closely examines the emerging pledge to “zero deforestation cocoa” by public and private interests—the global chocolate companies who sell, purchase, grind and trade the cocoa beans and the government officials who regulate land use and agriculture extension—to ensure socioeconomic progress of cocoa farmers while confronting the domestic political policies to reduce deforestation and alleviate poverty.
Measurement and monitoring of
impacts require supply chain traceability, which begins with cocoa farmer
mapping, a task led by the state and supported by the technological capacity of
business. “If we know where the cocoa beans originated, we will know if the
cocoa farm is committed to zero-deforestation practices,” explains
Carodenuto.
As it stands, there are no publicly
available maps of West Africa’s cocoa farms. And there is a long way to go in
the struggle towards deforestation-free cocoa and chocolate. We need to think
beyond niche labels such as Fair Trade to address the sustainability of mass-produced
chocolate in our cereals and cheap chocolate bars.
She points to the lack of basic
labels indicating the origins of the cocoa in most store-bought chocolate bars
and boxes of chocolate, and also to the type of significant campaign that was
used to draw public attention to the origins and fair trade of coffee
beans.
“Raising consumer awareness of
chocolate’s origins, the deforestation it may be causing, and the
poverty-stricken cocoa farmers is a priority,” she says.
Carodenuto also outlines a number of
other recommendations that will help cocoa farmers, governments and businesses
to work together toward sustainable cocoa production.
“Governance of Zero
Deforestation Cocoa in West Africa: New forms of public-private interaction”
was published in Environmental Policy and Governance.