Over the years, the shades of green offered by the Adzopé forest, 100 kilometers north of Abidjan, have evolved according to European regulations. To block the way for the expansion of certain cocoa crops near classified forest areas, islands of teak have been erected. “ We have been hearing about EU regulations for a very long time, but we have only been seeing the direct effects in our cultures for a few months », says David Koffi, cocoa farmer.
As you travel through its four hectares of fields where the beans grow, it is no longer rare for your path to cross that of technicians equipped with tablets to geolocate and reference sustainable cocoa fields.
For several years, the European Commission is trying to implement legislation banning all products from deforested lands after December 2020, including Ivorian cocoa and coffee. It was due to come into force at the end of 2024, but on October 2, its entry into force was postponed until the end of 2025. A hard blow for many environmental preservation NGOs, but a relief for producers and Ivorian exporters.
For Ivory Coast, the world’s leading cocoa producer (40%), the equation is complex. Brown gold generates 15% of Ivorian GDP and represents around one million direct jobs and five million indirect jobs. Nevertheless, the climate emergency is there. Cocoa production is responsible for 37.4% of deforestation.
The EU text provides in particular that importing companies prove the traceability of their products via geolocation data provided by farmers, associated with satellite photos. “ Implementing sustainable cocoa requires a lot of investment », Underlines Awa Traoré, general director of the Cayat cooperative, which brings together 3,300 producers in the Adzopé department. “ Traceability requires expertise and tools that we are in the process of acquiring, but we needed more time », she adds. In Cayat, thirty people were recruited in three years to tackle the titanic work of geolocation, shared between the Café Cacao Council (CCC), the Ivorian public body responsible for regulating the sector, and the cooperatives.
Since 2019, the Ivorian state has intensified its fight against deforestation, identifying nearly a million planters, 110,000 of whom have received a card containing digital data on their production. Without correlation with the postponement of European regulations, the latter sell their cocoa for 1,800 CFA francs (2.70 euros) per kilo, a new price decided by the State.
Decided after a near doubling of prices on the international market, this record increase of almost 20% is a response by the Ivorian State to the drop in production, itself due to poor weather conditions. But the account is still not there, believes David Koffi. “ As long as producers are not better paid (they only receive 6% of the price of a chocolate bar), it will not be possible to produce green cocoa, because it is expensive “, he said, adding that “ cocoa is disappearing ». But climate change does not explain everything. Many farmers choose to turn to other, more profitable crops, such as hevea, used to make rubber. Célia Cuordifede, in Adzopé, Ivory Coast.