Ghana pilots cocoa traceability system forward of EU deforestation regulation  | Meals Enterprise Africa

GHANA – Ghana’s cocoa trade is piloting a traceability system to make sure compliance with the brand new European Union legislation on deforestation-linked imports. 

The legislation, generally known as the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), will come into impact on the finish of December 2024.  

It mandates EU importers of commodities, together with cocoa, to show that their provide chains don’t contribute to deforestation or face important penalties. 

The Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) has taken proactive steps to satisfy the necessities of the EUDR by creating a traceability system that tracks cocoa beans from the farm to the port.  

“We have now polygon-mapped all of the cocoa in Ghana, established an end-to-end traceability system, and efficiently piloted it,” stated Michael Amoah, a consultant from Cocobod. 

Ghana is the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, with round 60 p.c of its cocoa exports destined for the European Union.  

This makes compliance with the EUDR essential for the nation’s cocoa trade, which employs about 17 p.c of Ghana’s working inhabitants. Nearly all of cocoa farmers in Ghana are smallholders dwelling in distant rural areas.  

With out authorities assist, they may battle to satisfy the legislation’s stringent necessities, which embody offering consumers with geolocation information that proves their farms will not be on land deforested after 2020. 

The traceability system Cocobod is piloting goals to handle these challenges. “We hope what we’ve finished will allow us to seize a better share of the EU market,” stated Amoah.  

The initiative additionally aligns with Ghana’s broader technique to boost the sustainability and transparency of its cocoa trade. 

Not too long ago, Cocobod introduced a virtually 45 p.c enhance within the state-guaranteed worth paid to cocoa farmers for the 2024/25 crop season.  

The transfer is meant to enhance farmers’ incomes and stop the smuggling of cocoa beans in another country. The brand new worth of 48,000 cedis  (US$3,063.13) per ton will take impact when the season begins later in September. 

ACM launches cocoa market place 

In the meantime, the African Cocoa Market (ACM) has launched an revolutionary digital platform that connects African cocoa producers with world consumers and traders.  

ACM goals to showcase the sustainability, high quality, and excellence of African cocoa, which has over 120 years of historical past within the world market.  

This platform, launched simply because the 2024-25 harvest season begins, offers a well timed alternative for African sellers to current their worth propositions to worldwide consumers. 

ACM’s platform includes a rigorous certification course of that verifies advertising and marketing claims made by sellers, making certain transparency and traceability all through the availability chain. 

“Our platform makes it straightforward for each events to share their worth propositions and exhibit proof of finest practices to potential enterprise companions,” stated Dr. Kristy Leissle, CEO and founding father of ACM.