In this way farmers will be able to increase their income and the effects of climate change on cocoa plants will be mitigated.
Rising global temperatures, caused by climate change, threaten cocoa crops and, without intervention, will render unsuitable many of the areas where this plant is currently grown. In an attempt to counter this problem and guarantee diversified income streams for cocoa farmers, the Ghanaian government has, for the first time, granted farmers ownership of the non-cocoa trees present on their farms. Around 150 farmers who have applied will now be able to plant trees on their plantations, thereby increasing their income through the sale of timber while at the same time reducing deforestation and mitigating the effects of climate change on cocoa.
The cocoa plant originates from the rainforest, where for millennia it grew sheltered beneath the protective canopy of trees. In West Africa, where approximately 70 per cent of the world's cocoa beans are produced, cocoa is instead often exposed to the sun, with little or no shade at all. This is why planting trees among cocoa crops can positively influence local climatic conditions, maintaining moisture levels in the air and soil and helping to preserve soil fertility.
The spread of trees will also encourage an increase in biodiversity, which will in turn have a positive impact on cocoa production. Birds and insects are important pollinators for cocoa plants, while various tree-dwelling species can act as a barrier against the pests that infect cocoa plants.
This important change is the result of the work of an international consortium made up of the World Cocoa Foundation (Wcf), the Sustainable Food Lab, the Agro Eco-Louis Bolk Institute and Meridia, which has worked with the chocolate and cocoa sector and with the governments of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire to reduce the destruction of forests in the cocoa supply chain.
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Working alongside Ghana's Forestry Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the consortium successfully piloted a new tree census system covering the farms participating in this initiative, in order to prevent deforestation. "Now I will plant more trees on my farm because loggers will not be allowed to cut them down," commented Rosemond Ofosu, one of the cocoa producers involved.
Agroforestry farming also teaches farmers and their families to take a longer-term view of land management, thereby reducing the appeal of short-term but unsustainable gains such as deforestation and small-scale illegal gold extraction.