Unpacking ‘sustainable’ cocoa: do sustainability standards, development projects and policies address producer concerns in Indonesia, Cameroon and Peru?

Abstract

'Sustainable cocoa' has attracted considerable attention. However, stakeholders in cocoa development may differ in their understanding of sustainable cocoa, their interests and actions taken in advancing sustainable cocoa. This article analyses cocoa sustainability at nested scales and analyses to what extent sustainability standards, policies and development projects address sustainability concerns and contribute to ecosystem services. The analysis is based on literature reviews and key informant interviews in Sulawesi (Indonesia), Ucayali (Peru) and Centre Region (Cameroon). Producers in all three countries shared concerns of price volatility, weak farmer organizations and dependence on few buyers. Producers in Sulawesi and Centre Region compensated low returns to cocoa production by diversification of cocoa systems. Public and private development actors were concerned with low production volumes. Research has so far focused on biodiversity loss, which differed depending on the cocoa sector's age in a country. Policies and development programs in all countries have focused on cocoa sector expansion and productivity increases, irrespective of smallholder needs for economically viable farming systems and existing market structures resulting in little bargaining power to farmers. Sustainability standards have spread unevenly and have converged in compliance criteria over time, although initially differing in focus. Recently added business and development criteria of sustainability standards can potentially address farmers' concerns. Competing interests and interdependencies between different actors' responses to concerns have so far not been openly acknowledged by public and private sector actors.

Delineation of Cocoa Agroforests Using Multiseason Sentinel-1 SAR Images: A Low Grey Level Range Reduces Uncertainties in GLCM Texture-Based Mapping

“…In the case of Cameroon, cocoa is predominantly grown in small-scale agroforests of 1-3 ha [5,7,8]. Thus, the cocoa area of 123,120 ha in Cameroon's center region production hotspot [21] is in effect the harvested area, which is based on seasonal records from local farmers and cocoa cooperatives. The National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB) monitors and publishes the national statistics.…”

“…On the assumption of continuous expansion of cocoa production land, the associated impact on forest cover is, therefore, far greater than management extrapolations made solely from published data on harvested areas. For the sustainable management of cocoa production landscapes, national government programs that stimulate the export of dry cocoa beans [2,9,21] need reliable and updated estimations of both harvest and expansion areas for cocoa agroforests.…”

Environmentally and socially responsible global production and trade of timber and tree crop commodities: certification as a transient issue-attention cycle response to ecological and social issues

“…Comparison across the six commodities reveals differences in 'management swing potential' that are not directly related with the emergence of certification. The largest ecological swing potential is observed in the various ways of producing rubber (Kennedy et al 2017) and, to some extent, of cocoa (Mithöfer et al 2017b) and coffee (Mithöfer et al 2017a). The impact gaps for biodiversity conservation and ES between best-(i.e.…”

Delineation of Cocoa Agroforests Using Multi-Season Sentinel-1 SAR Images: Low Grey Level Range Reduces Uncertainties in GLCM Texture-Based Mapping

“…This database depends on sporadic Country reports of annual harvest area, and projection from these reports, which may not represent the actual ground reality [21] In the case of Cameroon, cocoa is predominantly grown in small-scale agroforests of 1-3ha [5,7,8]. Thus, the cocoa area of 123,120 ha in Cameroon's Centre Region production hotspot for example [22], is in effect the harvested area, which is based on seasonal records by local farmers' and Cocoa cooperatives. Thence, the national statistics is monitored and published by the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB).…”

“…On the assumption of continuous expansion of cocoa production land, therefore, the associated impact on forest cover is far greater than management extrapolations made solely from published data on harvested areas. For a sustainable management of cocoa production landscapes, national government programs that stimulate export of dry cocoa beans [2,9,22] need support for reliable and updated estimations of both harvest and expansion areas for cocoa agroforests.…”