How ‘green’ is your chocolate? Cooking up sustainable value chains in West Africa

14 Sep 2022

(BONN, Germany, 13 September 2022) – If you’ve eaten chocolate recently, chances are it came from Côte d’Ivoire or Ghana, the world’s two largest cocoa exporters. But demand for the sweet treat has spurred serious deforestation in these countries, and the farmers who grow the cocoa don’t always get a fair return.

Governments, organizations, and private sector stakeholders have been working to turn that trajectory around and achieve green, zero-deforestation value chains for cocoa. Late last year, the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration Impact Program (FOLUR) launched projects in the two countries to help bring about resilient landscapes and sustainable food system transformation through ‘greener’ cocoa.

At the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) Africa 2022 conference on 15 September, ministerial representatives and private sector actors will come together for a plenary session to share lessons learned from work on cocoa value chains – and future prospects for improving Africa’s commodity chains more broadly. Hear from the Executive Director of an agricultural cooperative in Côte d’Ivoire, a representative of a sustainable chocolate manufacturer; forestry scientists; ministerial representatives; and more.

WHAT: Plenary: Achieving sustainable commodity value chains in Africa: Lessons and perspectives from cocoa

WHEN: 15 September 2022, 17:30-18:15 EAT | 10:30-11:15 EDT

WHERE: Online; to register as press, click here.

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NOTES FOR EDITORS

  • For media registration and accreditation, please visit our Newsroom.
  • For more information and/or to arrange interviews with speakers, please contact Kendall Siewerd: k.siewert@cgiar.org

 

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About FOLUR
The Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration Impact Program (FOLUR) is a $345 million, seven-year initiative funded by the Global Environment Facility and led by the World Bank. Seeking to transform food and land use systems, the program consists of a global knowledge platform and 27 country projects. Country-level work will focus on accelerating action in landscapes and along value chains for eight major commodities, including livestock, cocoa, coffee, maize, palm oil, rice, soy and wheat.

About the GLF
The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) is the world’s largest knowledge-led platform on integrated land use, dedicated to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Climate Agreement. The Forum takes a holistic approach to create sustainable landscapes that are productive, prosperous, equitable and resilient, and considers five cohesive themes of food and livelihoods, landscape restoration, rights, finance and measuring progress. It is led by the Center for International Forestry Research-World Agroforestry Centre (CIFOR-ICRAF), in collaboration with its co-founders UNEP and the World Bank, and its charter members. This conference is made possible through our sponsors and working partners.

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