Sustainable Cocoa Programme

The European Union is the world’s largest importer of cocoa. In Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon, cocoa farming is the main source of livelihoods for six to seven million farmers and contributes indirectly to the livelihoods of a further 40 to 50 million people. A large proportion of cocoa farmers in these countries live below the poverty line.

Our objective: Supporting the EU Flagship Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa to promote sustainable production

The Initiative promotes sustainable production that covers the three pillars of sustainable development: economic, environmental and social. In Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon the initiative aims to provide a ‘living income’ for farmers, contribute to national public revenues, end environmental degradation and deforestation, and protect labour rights. EFI also underpins sustainable cocoa objectives in other cocoa producing countries in Africa and Latin America.

Our work: Facilitating compliance with EU legislation and advancing cocoa supply-chain transparency

To assist the EU’s efforts on sustainable cocoa, we focus our contribution on:

• Enhancing a shared understanding between key public and private stakeholders about defining and measuring progress towards cocoa sustainability, in support of the EU policy dialogue with producing countries
• Supporting producer countries in developing robust standards and tools to achieve traceable and deforestation-free cocoa