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Projects on “Sustainable cocoa production in Ghana related to forests” (2014)
Ghana - 03 December, 2014
Ghana is the world’s second producer of cocoa but the productivity and quality of cocoa and farming systems are decreasing. Producers and others involved in the cocoa commodity chain are concerned about the future of cocoa supplies given the uncertainty on the quality and quantity of cocoa. Cocoa farmers are concerned about their income because of the decreasing yields and the fluctuating price of cocoa on the world market. And biodiversity is at stake due to expansion of the cocoa area at the cost of remaining forests and the removal of trees from farms. On the positive side, Ghana’s government has the intention to prevent further forest conversion to cocoa farming, the intention is to intensify cocoa production while restoring forest cover.
Many projects are ongoing to support the cocoa sector. Tropenbos International (TBI) collected information on 36 cocoa projects and initiatives taking place in Ghana that have a link with biodiversity. The results are presented in a narrative report and are expected to be used as a source of information for parties and stakeholders on Cocoa projects and initiatives in Ghana associated to sustainable production, landscapes and biodiversity. The annexes of the report contain detailed information on the projects and organizations and persons involved. It is a flexible document that can be updated frequently. For that purpose, the information is not printed but made available digitally only. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided as collected, but regular updates would be necessary. We therefore encourage readers and users to send updated information frequently.
From TBI’s perspective as knowledge broker, we see great potential for different organisations to collaborate jointly in complementary projects. There is also a growing prospective to establish working groups for sharing experiences and knowledge and encouraging collaboration at project level related to sustainable cocoa production and biodiversity conservation.