ASSISTED NATURAL REGENERATION (ANR)

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Cocoa production is dominated by full-sun monocultures and low-shade agroforestry. Full-sun cocoa cultivation leads to increased vulnerability, including soil quality deterioration, heat stress, pests and diseases, and decrease in pollinator populations.

These plantations after 25 years enter into a rapid decline in yields and risks further deforestation in cocoa growing areas.  
In the past decade, massive reforestation and tree planting projects aimed to restore deforested areas, however these tree plantings faced low or very low survival rates, limited follow up and high costs. This led to studies to understand the levers behind forest cover recovery.  

In these studies, agroforestry and innovations, such as Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) show a promising response to many of these challenges.  

Spontaneous trees are everywhere and represent the majority of trees on farms. These spontaneous trees are more diverse in species (9 on average) than planted trees (4 on average). They also grow 10% faster than planted trees annually and by year 30, their timber volume is 41% higher than planted trees.

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We also know that over time, planted trees store less carbon than spontaneous trees as they invest more in reproduction than growth. By year 20, spontaneous trees store twice as more carbon as planted trees.

Higher survival and better growth of spontaneous trees

  • Better root systems
  • Less stress during the first months
  • Higher genetic diversity
  • More investment into growth (rather than in reproduction)

In 2024 the Cocoa Horizons Foundation started a unique ANR pilot with an innovative partnership between research, the cocoa industry, and farmers in Cote d’Ivoire. The initial feasibility study was co-designed with Cirad.

The project at a glance

  • Cover 2,400 hectares by the end of 2026 in Indénié-Djuablin
  • 3 years of support per participating farmer
  • Combination of individual support and group trainings (“champ-école”)
  • Less trees produced in nurseries, transported and planted, resulting in lower mortality rates
  • Shade management is at the core of the program
  • Resurch results translated into practical tools (training booklets with pictures, individual coaching, botany and sylviculture training 

Our field results confirm research findings in terms of abundance, diversity, and performance of assisted natural regeneration. We also experience high adoption rate by farmers and most importantly, higher tree survival rate.