Cocoa Accountability Map 2.0 Webinar

July 31, 2020

Mighty Earth recently hosted a webinar for the launch of our Cocoa Accountability Map 2.0 as part of our effort to trigger a transparency and traceability revolution in the cocoa sector. Our updated Cocoa Accountability Map now has land use information for all of Côte d’Ivoire, new supply chain information, and better cocoa cooperative data.

This webinar brought together mapping and deforestation experts from across the globe. The webinar provided a rare opportunity for these experts, with similar goals, to engage with one another and provide updates on what they are doing.

Most importantly, it gave us a chance to showcase that mapping is happening in the cocoa sector. Mapping is already a reality despite efforts of government agencies and certain companies to slow or stop the trend. High quality mapping of cocoa and deforestation for cocoa is possible, real, and tangible – though unfortunately up to this point has yet to be led or coordinated in any substantial way by the Cocoa & Forest Initiative.

Traceability of supply chains is also evolving in cocoa. With notable exceptions of Ferrero/Nutella, Blommer/Fuji Oil, and Mondelez/Cadbury, most major cocoa traders and chocolate manufacturing companies have disclosed or are in the process of disclosing their direct supply chains in Côte d’Ivoire.

However, collaboration and leadership will be key to put this mapping and traceability information into good use. Speakers in the webinar evoked the leitmotif that mapping and traceability data must be concretely used for action on the ground, to finally put an end to deforestation and other abuses in cocoa.

The featured speakers were:

• Paola Despretz, Economist at Vivid Economics
• Gérome Tokpa, Senior Manager and Country Head of Earthwork Côte d’Ivoire
• Sarah Middlemiss, Space Programme Manager at Ecometrica
• Daniel Abu, Project Coordinator at Tropenbos Ghana
• James Acworth, Independent Monitoring, Land-use and Forestry Expert in Cameroon
• Niels Wielaard, Founder and Co-director of Satelligence
• Nathalie Walker, Director, Tropical Forest and Agriculture at the National Wildlife Federation (NWF)
• Vitor França Lopes dos Santos, Technical Assistance and Market at Imaflora

For more information, please check out the presentation slides and additional questions and answers from the webinar.

The Cocoa Accountability Map will continue to be updated with more information and a more user-friendly interface from now until the fall. Look out for Mighty Earth’s Cocoa Accountability Map 3.0  and mapping webinar happening in October.