Government has been admonished to consider developing and implementing a policy on zero-deforestation for the cocoa sector.
Proponents of this policy; Assiman Cocoa Farmers’ Cooperative and Marketing Union Limited (AMCOFUL) believes such a policy will safeguard the ecosystem and improve agricultural activities and socioeconomic livelihood.
MrTheophilus Tamakloe with AMCOFUL, says such a policy would provide a better framework for land use in the cocoa sector.
He referenced a study by AMCOFUL; “Addressing Cocoa Land use and Impact on deforestation”, that such a policy ought to focus on the cocoa supply chain, its associated deforestation and the role and limitations of certification schemes to reduce deforestation.
The outcome of the study is to inform policy makers and various industry players in support to a zero-deforestation cocoa future.
“The trajectory of deforestation due to cocoa production has remained upward primarily because of rising demand for chocolate, decreasing production capacity from aging cocoa trees, lack of good agricultural practices and the shrinking suitable land area due to climate change. These factors create further incentive to convert forests to farmlands for cocoa, which threatens remaining forested and protected areas.” he added.
International Commitments
At the UN Climate Change Conference (COP23), in Bonn, Germany, Ghana joined La Côte d’Ivoire to announce far-reaching Frameworks for Action with leading chocolate and cocoa companies to end deforestation and restore forest areas. Central to the Frameworks is a commitment to no further conversion of any forestland for cocoa production.
This marks one of the latest forms of transnational business governance, where state actors share the regulation of the environmental and social externalities with private sector actors.
The set of public-private actions announced represent unprecedented commitments on forest protection and restoration, as well as sustainable cocoa production and improved farmer livelihoods. These combined actions, which are aligned with the Paris Climate Agreement, sought to play a crucial role in sequestering carbon stocks and thereby addressing global and local climate change.
Both countries announced plans to introduce a differentiated approach for improved management of forest reserves, based on the level of degradation of the forests. The two governments and companies agreed through the Frameworks to accelerate investment in long-term sustainable production of cocoa, with an emphasis on “growing more cocoa on less land.
However, Theophilus Tamakloe is of the opinion that “very little has been done in this direction amidst growing concerns from international cocoa buyers as relayed to us by the cocoa buying companies. “
Challenges of Cocoa Farmers
There are several challenges to large-scale farm rehabilitation and among the numerous setbacks are inadequate funding for cocoa farmers and communities, limited technical knowledge to replant old trees and using best practices to rehabilitate old cocoa farms for resilience and higher yield.
In addition to these setbacks, many cocoa farmers are faced with insecure land tenure arrangements that prevent or discourage them from replanting on old farms among many other challenges.
Implications for the depletion of our forest cover
According to NAP (2003), deforestation induces land degradation and desertification, destruction of biodiversity and depletion of the natural sink for carbon dioxide. It has adverse effects on ecosystem services such as watershed protection, provision of habitat for wildlife, storm-flow stabilization, runoff control, prevention of soil erosion, and other types of environmental amelioration. In disturbing the watershed protection function of forests, deforestation causes siltation of streams and rivers and increases flooding.
In addition, boreholes dry up due to lowered water tables; the clearing of forests also affects migratory routes of wildlife, raises isolation and soil temperature, and affects the activities of useful soil microbes. Large-scale conversion of forest to other land uses contributes significantly to local climate change.
Recommendations
To this end, Stakeholders need to put in place sustainable policies and programmes that control carbon emissions associated with cocoa farm rehabilitation over the next 10 years and beyond. The Policy should also advise on how to track forestland use changes, report associated carbon dioxide CO2 reductions and removals in the short run, and into to the future.
Non-state actors need to partner government to assess and mitigate the social impacts and risks of proposed land use changes on affected cocoa farmers and their communities. Additionally, it must ensure provision of alternative livelihoods as well as restoration of standard of living of affected parties, in line with global standards.
Provision of training production practices
It is critical that specific best practices are improved to address the underlying environmental benefits for various cocoa growing communities. The best environmental practices should not be a standalone curriculum; rather this information should be used to support and strengthen the relevant sections of the existing cocoa manual.
Implementing a landscape approach
This would provide economic, environmental, social and cultural services within a landscape or watershed, both spatially and temporally with the following advantages including; target overall ecosystem function; encourage connectivity of agroforestry /forest patches; reduce negative effects on soil and water conservation, among others.
This calls for policies and legislations to promote the required landscape approach such as the Ghana Cocoa and Forest Initiative National Implementation Plan.
Stringent policy to protect forest from excessive unsustainable harvests
This will halt further deforestation of critical ecosystems and habitats to maintain and conserve biodiversity and the ecosystem goods and services provided.
Establishment biological corridors and buffer zones
There should be planning tools to map out current corridors. There is also the need to determine the most appropriate financial incentives for establishing and maintaining buffer zones. This will improve natural filtration, protecting waterways from excessive sedimentation, polluted surface runoff, erosion and supply shelter and food for wildlife.
Farmers will therefore benefit from protection against the movement of insect transmitted diseases; reduction in the likelihood of wildfires; improved concentration of pollinators/vectors among many others.
Encourage Agroforestry in dry transition zone
Agroforestry in dry transition zone Cocoa farmers in the dry transition zone need to be encouraged to undertake Agroforestry practices to minimize drought related impacts and the progression of the dry zone. The decline in precipitation with elevation is unusual in the presence of offshore winds but given Ghana’s relatively low topography.
Nana Kwame Gyamfi called for stakeholders to consider agroforestry in the dry transition zones to reduce a further decline in precipitation through Ghanaian cocoa landscapes and the expansion of the dry transition zone in the northern edges of Southern and middle belt cocoa growing regions.
According to him, this will improve unit area yield and reduce the loss of family land to long-term drought and could be an incentive to encourage farmers in the dry transition zone to adopt more environmentally friendly production practices.
“While deforestation occurs at the smallholder farmer level, it is the role of relevant partners who need to take action considering the limited technical and economic capacity of smallholder cocoa farmers.” he noted
He expressed gratitude to the BUSAC Fund, Usaid and Danida for their financial support to undertake the study that will support advocacy for the development of a “Zero-Deforestation Cocoa Policy to facilitate effective traceability.”