Companies and governments join forces to improve forest protection, agriculture and livelihoods

In the Cavally area in Côte d’Ivoire, IDH focuses on enabling green growth to find a balance between forest, agriculture and people.  It will do so by building a multi-stakeholder coalition that will jointly design and put forward a scalable, sustainable land management model that balances commodity production and environmental protection through an integrated landscape approach.

Deforestation is a major issue in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, which together produce nearly two-thirds of the world’s supply of cocoa. Over a 10-year period, approximately 2.1 million hectares of forest  has been cleared in Côte d’Ivoire and 820,000 hectares in Ghana. A quarter of this has been attributed to cocoa production. Forests create a micro climate essential for cocoa, and their loss creates a threat for its production. This creates a strong business case for companies to invest in forest protection.

In the Cavally Area in Côte d’Ivoire, IDH drives public-private green growth by facilitating cooperation and driving the design and implementation of both public and private plans to halt deforestation. IDH is working towards a scalable and replicable sustainable land management model that balances commodity production with environmental protection.

The landscape program in Cote d’Ivoire is integrated in the Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI) Implementation Plan. The Cavally region in Cote d’Ivoire is one of five priority regions of CFI where IDH road-tests key interventions: cocoa-agroforestry, protection of forest reserves with high forest cover, land use plans for highly degraded forest reserves, and diversification of farmers’ income. These combined interventions deliver field-based lessons to help nation-wide implementation of the CFI.

IDH has also set up a Regional Committee bringing together public- private and civil society stakeholders that will inform the development of the regional development and green growth plans (SRADT).

In order to meet the goals, we address commercial, community and conservation issues in a coordinated way. We do this through addressing policy at the national level as well as carrying out activities at the local level. Our work includes:

  • Agroforestry related projects to protect and restore the forest cover and thus biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration.
  • Payments for reduced emissions of deforestation and degradation (REDD+) as an incentive for farmers/communities to protect the remaining forests.
  • Establishing open and constructive dialogue among the different public (and private) stakeholders involved to alignment and successful enforcement of land use planning policies.
  • Activities to diversify smallholder farmers’ income, improve their access to credit and provide financial incentives for them to stop deforestation
  • Attract investment from impact investors to the landscape.
  • Developing green growth plans.

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Publications

Title Type Year Regions TAF
Landscapes Information Brief: IDH’s approach to sustainable landscapes Brochure 2018 - -
Conveners Guide for Building Landscape Coalitions Toolkit and guide 2017 - -
IDH Landscapes Forum Report Report 2017 - -
The Little Sustainable Landscapes Book Report 2015 - -

Public and private partners in IDH Initiatives