Premium chocolatier Godiva invests in the Soubré landscape in Côte D’Ivoire, but curiously it was palm oil that kickstarted this cross-commodity landscape initiative, not cocoa. Earthworm Foundation first came to the region to support Swiss-based oil and fats trader, Pro Fair Trade, to build sustainability into palm oil supply chains. The partners quickly realized that to address deforestation they needed also to support cocoa producers, who manage 77% of the landscape compared to 1.3% under oil palm. Other Earthworm members agreed to invest – Godiva; pladis, maker of biscuits and cakes; and Givaudan, a flavours and fragrance company – and the Soubré landscape initiative began in 2020. “If the palm business is protecting forest and the cocoa sector is not, at the end of the day both will face the same problems,” said Gerome Tokpa country head, Côte d'Ivoire at Earthworm, who implements the landscape initiative in Côte D’Ivoire. “When forests disappear, water will also disappear and rainfall will drop. Production of any commodity will be low.” This approach makes sense to Godiva. “Taking a long-term view, this is a project that is helping people to build more resilient livelihoods in cocoa growing communities, and we believe in it,” said Connor Mannion, global corporate communications and sustainability manager at Godiva.
Learn why and how companies have collaborated with each other and other stakeholders to transform cocoa landscapes in this report, produced by TFA, Proforest, and CDP.
Soubré is a major cocoa-producing area in Côte d’Ivoire, itself the world’s largest producer and exporter of cocoa beans, supplying 40% of global demand.1 Soubré spans 977,565 hectares (ha) and contains 24.66% of the 454,000 ha Taï National Park. Here, huge rainforest trees and wetlands are home to chimpanzees, pygmy hippos, mangabeys, dwarf crocodiles and a host of bird and insect life.2 But the landscape also contains preserved forests that have lost much of their tree cover to cocoa and annual crops.3 Cocoa in Soubré is produced by approximately 251,000 smallholders, who struggle with low productivity, low incomes and the untreatable swollen shoot virus, which kills cocoa trees, said Tokpa. Oil palm production in Soubré is growing and provides income for 3,353 smallholders4, but productivity in palm is also very low, said Tokpa. All this places pressure on forests, as farmers seek new land and better soil to increase their incomes.
Weighing the palm fruit harvest. © James Morgan / WWF-International; Cocoa farmer holding dried cocoa beans ready for export. © Irene Scott/ AusAID Wikicommons ▼
When in 2020 Earthworm proposed expanding Pro Fair Trade’s palm oil sustainability programme to a landscape initiative encompassing cocoa, Ralph Erdmann, the company’s purchasing manager for Africa and Asia, was keen. He wanted to support all smallholders in Soubré. “Farmers said to me, ‘We need more land to plant.’ We knew, ‘No, you don’t need more land; you need more efficiency in your plantations to get more yields and more income’,” he said. At the same time, pladis was developing its cocoa sustainability strategy. Most of its beans come from Côte d’Ivoire and, with Earthworm, it had established programs with four cocoa cooperatives to supply its grinding facility with traceable and sustainably produced beans. However, because 25% of the pladis’ purchases come from large traders with limited traceability, it wanted to find a way to deliver additional positive impact “We’ve been working with Earthworm for some time, so we already trust them to work with the local stakeholders to deliver impact,” said pladis’ global head of sustainability, Sylvain Cuperlier*. With With Soubré a key cocoa production region and Earthworm Foundation a trusted partner they decided to support the landscape. Chocolatier Godiva sources about half of its cocoa products from pladis, and the landscape initiative is particularly appealing as it includes supporting women through village saving and loan schemes, which aligns with Godiva’s own women’s empowerment programme.
*Sylvain Cuperlier held the position of pladis’ Global Head of Sustainability at the time of interview but has since left the company
…you don’t need more land; you need more efficiency in your plantations to get more yields and more income…
◀︎ Farmer harvesting cocoa in his plantation, Côte d’Ivoire. © Godong
In Soubré, regenerative agriculture is important because many farmers cannot afford to buy fertilizer, said Tokpa. “If soils are poor they need to look for other soil, and that would be under the forests,” he said. Earthworm is also helping farmers replace old trees with high-yield oil palm seedlings, planting shade trees in cocoa plantations and supporting farmers to develop alternative and additional sources of income. With the support of Godiva, pladis, Pro Fair Trade and Givaudan, Earthworm is progressing. It has assisted 247 farmers with livelihood diversification, coached 255 farmers in best management practices and supported 276 women with savings schemes. It reforested 23 hectares (ha) in 2021 and the initiative has been allocated a further 500 ha for agroforestry and restoration. By 2023, the partners under the Soubré landscape initiative aim to have restored 200 ha of cocoa farms, helped 500 farmers to diversify incomes, trained 1,000 farmers in best management practices and restored 60 ha of degraded forest.
One challenge, however, is a lack of process to bring stakeholders together to define shared goals and collaborate towards achieving them. These are essential processes for strengthening buy-in and the probability of long-term success of sustainable land use at scale. To support the Soubré landscape initiative, Earthworm wants to re-invigorate a committee established in 2019 to support a pilot programme on payment for ecosystem services. The committee included key stakeholders, including the Taï National Park, the Ministry of Water and Forests, Ivorian Cocoa Board, cooperatives, the regional council and NGOs, as well as Mondelēz International, which supported the scheme. The key challenge to rejuvenating the platform and defining shared goals across commodities, including palm oil, cocoa, and rubber, is sufficient long-term funding. “The Soubré project is a long-term, multi-sectoral effort that involves the mobilization of local stakeholders, following the landscape approach. Impact can be accomplished through integrated efforts and long-term funding,” said Tokpa. Earthworm is working with its members and seeks support from additional companies and donors to meet this need.
The elements of a strong landscape initiative are developing in Soubré. Goals and structures are developing as stakeholders commit resources to create a sustainable production landscape and help protect Côte D'Ivoire’s ecosystems. Soubré could provide lessons on the implementation of a multi-commodity landscape initiative. Companies are clearly interested in this model: a recent study on company landscape engagement in cocoa found that 13 out of 20 cocoa landscape initiatives are focused on at least one other commodity. Read more here. In Soubré, the support of cocoa and chocolate companies helped the landscape approach take off, building on the achievements of the palm oil sector. For long-term success, however, more partners are needed, and the Soubré initiative would warmly welcome new stakeholders to help on the journey towards the long-term sustainability goals.
Farmer harvesting cocoa with his wife in Côte d’Ivoire. © Robert Harding ►
▲ Organic cocoa beans sun drying on a farm. © Freedomnaruk
Earthworm Foundation, n.d. “Soubré landscape, Côte D'Ivoire”. www.earthworm.org/our-work/projects/soubre-landscape
Earthworm Foundation, 2021a. “Collaboration with palm oil and cocoa producers in Soubré, Ivory Coast”. www.earthworm.org/news-stories/protecting-forests-developing-responsible-products-ivory-coast
Earthworm Foundation, 2021b. “Helping farmers in the largest cocoa-producing region in Ivory Coast”. 15 November. www.earthworm.org/news-stories/ivory-coast-helpingfarmerslargestcocoaregion
FAOSTAT, n.d. “Crops and livestock products”. www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL
IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme, World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 1982, updated May 2011. “Taï National Park”. http://world-heritage-datasheets.unep-wcmc.org/datasheet/output/site/tai-national-park/
OEC (Observatory of Economic Complexity), n.d. “Cocoa beans”. https://oec.world/en/profile/hs/cocoa-beans
