Expansion of agriculture is one of the main drivers of tropical deforestation. Aware of the dangers this poses to the global climate and the sustainability of their businesses, a growing number of countries and companies are committing to producing commodities without felling more trees.

But turning these zero-deforestation commitments into reality is a challenge: It requires greater transparency in supply chains, innovative sources of finance and a deep understanding of the economic context of smallholders who produce commodities.

In Côte d’Ivoire, the EU REDD Facility has been working with the government, large chocolate companies and other partners to explore ways of implementing and scaling up deforestation-free cocoa production —from incentivising smallholders to participate in forest restoration initiatives to promoting a shift from monocultures of cocoa to mixed agroforestry systems.

In the latter case, the Facility and the UNEP Finance Initiative looked at the economic and financial viability of zero-deforestation cocoa pilot approaches to help the Ivoirian government and its private sector partners optimise proposed agroforestry approaches, taking into account the economic perspective of smallholders.

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