Snack food company Mondelēz International has announced that it will collaborate with governments in West Africa to reduce deforestation in the cocoa supply chain.
Cocoa Life is one of Mondelēz's sustainable sourcing programmes, and it has signed an agreement with Côte d'Ivoire's Ministry of Environment to support its goal of zero deforestation in the cocoa production process.
The group will create a forest protection map, land use plan and tracking system to identify deforestation risks and opportunities to restore forest cover in the Nawa region.
It will also promote good agricultural practices to enable farmers to improve productivity, adopt agro-forestry systems, and free up land for other crops or reforestation.
Economical And Environmental
The company has also signed a letter of intent with the Forestry Commission of Ghana and the UN Development Programme to establish a partnership in Ghana.
Yaw Kwakye, head of the climate change unit in Ghana's Forestry Commission, said, "The Cocoa Life programme in Ghana has contributed immensely to ongoing national efforts to make the cocoa sector economically and environmentally sustainable through the promotion of climate-smart approaches to cocoa farming.
"Spearheading the uptake of innovation and best practices in major cocoa communities in Ghana, the program remains a leader in advancing a new way of cocoa production that addresses deforestation and forest degradation."
Chris McGrath, chief well-being, sustainability and public affairs officer at Mondelēz International, added, "With our investment in Cocoa Life, we have the capacity and the partnerships to help farmers become more resilient by adopting climate-smart solutions and protecting forests. These new agreements will amplify our existing work to protect the precious environment in cocoa-growing regions."
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
