The EU’s new deforestation regulation poses a significant challenge for Ivory Coast’s cocoa industry because it fundamentally changes the conditions under which cocoa can be sold to one of its largest markets, the European Union. Ivory Coast, the world’s leading cocoa producer, has long relied on a highly fragmented supply chain comprised mostly of smallholder farmers who often cultivate cocoa on land previously cleared of forest. The new rules, which require companies to provide strict proof that their cocoa products have not been sourced from recently deforested land, introduce several critical hurdles, including traceability requirements, monitoring and compliance costs, risks of farmer exclusion, and general market uncertainty.
Overall, the EU deforestation regulation poses a problem because it necessitates a rapid, costly, and complex transformation of the Ivory Coast cocoa supply chain. With sufficient support, investment, and transition strategies, many producers can avoid market exclusion and economic hardship.
To mitigate the challenges posed by the EU deforestation regulation, Ivory Coast could pursue a multi-faceted strategy that strengthens traceability, improves sustainability practices, and builds capacity among smallholder farmers. Key approaches include the development of a robust traceability system, farmer training, and capacity building, strengthening legal and policy frameworks, promoting certification and cooperative engagement, accessing climate finance and international support, and engaging in dialogues with several stakeholders.
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), with its more than 450 member organizations and extensive expertise in geospatial standards and interoperability frameworks, can offer valuable support to the Ivory Coast in meeting the challenges of the EU deforestation regulation. Key areas where OGC’s involvement can help include guidance on developing and adopting internationally recognized geospatial data collection, storage, and sharing standards, the facilitation of data integration and interoperability, supporting the development of a traceability system, training and capacity building, and the facilitation of public-private partnerships.