Is the implementation of cocoa companies’ forest policies on track to effectively and equitably address deforestation in West Africa?

Tropical forests play a crucial role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by contributing to climate stability, conserving biodiversity, and sustaining livelihoods. However, forests are disappearing due to agricultural expansion. In West Africa, cocoa production is a major driver of deforestation. This study examines the design and implementation of Forest-focused Supply chain Policies (FSPs) in cocoa supply chains in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, the world's two leading cocoa producers. FSPs are voluntary policies of companies to combat deforestation, restore forests, and improve farmers' livelihoods. Drawing on 91 stakeholder interviews, we developed a conceptual framework to examine FSPs’ theory of change, implementation, and potential effectiveness and equity. Our findings reveal shortcomings in FSPs’ design and implementation. FSPs are mostly narrowly focused on preventing illegal deforestation and only target farmers in companies' “direct” supply chains, neglecting important landscape-scale approaches and processes. Companies also fail to include smallholder farmers sufficiently in policy design and implementation. Lastly, FSPs prioritise productivity enhancement but overlook the importance of addressing farmers' social norms and values. We provide recommendations on how to address the shortcomings to achieve sustainable cocoa production.