On 13 January 2021 in Yaoundé, Cameroon, the Cameroon government, international development partners, the private sector and civil society, officially signed the Framework for Action for the Roadmap to Deforestation-free Cocoa in Cameroon. 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.
Download the full Press Release below in both English and French reporting on the key commitments made. Some examples are:
- Signatories pledge to promote a sustainable cocoa sector, thereby protecting the third largest forest range in the Congo Basin and improving the livelihoods of up to 600,000 cocoa farmers in Cameroon.
- The Roadmap comprises nine commitments, including promoting forest conservation and restoration, enhancing cocoa productivity in the long term, and implementing cocoa full traceability from farm gate to export port.
- The implementation of the Roadmap commitments will be based on three main pillars: forest protection and restoration, sustainable production and marketing of deforestation-free cocoa, community engagement and social inclusion.