THRIVING NATURE
OUR MISSION
Reduce deforestation and preserve forests in cocoa landscapes, while reducing carbon emissions in cocoa farming practices.
CHALLENGES
Forests and other natural ecosystems play an essential role in storing carbon, preserving biodiversity, regulating water supplies, reducing natural hazards, supporting climate adaptation, and sustaining the livelihoods and well-being of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. However, climate change and deforestation continue to threaten ecosystems, communities, and agricultural supply chains. Cocoa yields are declining, weather patterns are becoming more volatile, and pressure on land use is intensifying.
Since the 1960s, nearly half of global cocoa expansion has occurred at the expense of forest landscapes - driving biodiversity loss and emissions. Theobroma cacao is a forest tree, prone to be farmed in humid lowland tropical areas on currently or previously forested land. After cocoa is planted on previously forested soils, productivity tends to drop after 20 years, reflecting depletion in soil fertility and the need to renew trees.Generally, in a given area cocoa plantations tend to be of similar age and/or exposed to similar pests, therefore productivity drops in entire regions at the same time.
To address gaps created by increasing demand and regional productivity declines, new stakeholders tend to move to forests to benefit from high fertility of soils. Full sun cocoa cultivation also leads to several challenges and increased vulnerability.
OUR APPROACH
The Cocoa Horizons Foundation aims to lead the way toward positive change with ecosystem safeguarding such as off-farm forest protection efforts and on-farm practices like shade management to enhance biodiversity and mitigate climate impacts. Since 2016, we have engaged in and committed to cocoa specific initiatives aimed at halting deforestation and the conversion of forests and natural ecosystems.
The Foundation supports the evolving regulatory requirements, particularly the EU Deforestation-Free Regulation (EUDR) for which we are well-prepared.
Our forest positive commitment goes beyond being deforestation-free. In addition to ensuring farm level traceability and robust due diligence as a Foundation, we go further. Forest protection is at the heart of our strategy. We invest in targeted conservation efforts across high-risk cocoa landscapes, including in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria.
The Cocoa Horizons program is:
- aligned with SBTI FLAG guidance / AFI criteria for no-deforestation
- comply with EU deforestation free due diligence approach
- aligned with Proforest’s Verified Deforestation and Conversion Free approach
- traceable back to the farmer, we apply first mile traceability and mass balance principle
- with geolocation data (excluding Brazil)
INITIATIVES FROM THE FIELD
Explore our examples of impactful initiatives across the supply chain, showcasing the hard work, dedication, and innovative approaches at the heart of our mission.
