Campaign Group Mighty Earth has cited some major Chocolate manufacturing firms for reneging on their promise to help reduce deforestation in Ghana and Ivory Coast .
It follows the collaborations with the two countries to launch the Cocoa and Forests Initiative last year.
About twelve cocoa and chocolate companies in March last year agreed to collectively support efforts to end deforestation and forest degradation in the global cocoa supply chain, with an initial focus on Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
The firms include Barry Callebut, Blommer Chocolate Company, Cargill, CEMO, ECOM, Ferrero, The Hershey Company, Mars Incorporated, Mondelez International, Nestle, Olam and Touton.
But the campaign group says satellite images of Ivory Coast’s southwest cocoa-growing region showed about the same amount of forest had been lost in the 12 months since the pledge was made as in the previous year.
The group was however not able to obtain data as precise from Ghana, but observed a similar lack of change there.
The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), the industry group behind the Cocoa and Forests Initiative, said recent reports show there has been progress in national parks and classified forests.
Source: Africafeeds.com
