This archive report was first published on 3 September 2021.
On September 3, 2021, a shocking report by Mighty Earth exposed the dark side of the chocolate industry, revealing its indirect role in massive and illegal deforestation in Ivory Coast.
The investigation found that in several national parks and protected areas, a staggering 90 percent or more of the land mass has been converted to cocoa production.
According to the report, less than four percent of Ivory Coast remains densely forested, with the chocolate companies' laissez-faire approach to sourcing driving extensive deforestation in neighboring Ghana as well.
The devastating impact of deforestation has been disastrous for protected species, including chimpanzees, leopards, pygmy hippos, and elephants, which are forced into ever-smaller areas, making them easier prey for poachers.
In Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cocoa producer, accounting for 40 percent of global output, deforestation has pushed chimpanzees into just a few small pockets, reducing the country's elephant population from several hundred thousand to about 200-400.
The report named major chocolate brands as indirectly involved in a 'shocking' trade, where growers produce cocoa in national parks, sold to middlemen, and then to a handful of firms controlling half of the world's market.
From there, it's sold to big chocolate companies. The report analyzed that 291,254 acres (117,900 hectares) of protected areas were cleared between 2001 and 2014.
Over the same period, Ghana lost 7,000 square kilometers (2,700 square miles) of forest, or about 10 percent of its entire tree cover, with around a quarter of that deforestation connected to the chocolate industry.
Traders Cargill, Olam, and Barry Callebaut, named in the report, claim to be aware of the problem and have set up programs for deforestation-free supply chains.
Leading chocolate and cocoa companies have promised to come up with a 'framework of action' to end deforestation in the industry, due to be unveiled at the world climate conference in Bonn in November.
