MISSION
Consulting
CASE STUDY
Cocoa agroforestry strategy
YEAR
2023
CLIENT
Confidential
Developing the agroforestry strategy accross origins & supporting its implementation
01
Context
Need to review the agroforestry strategy in place to ensure it appropriately reflects the national realities (ex: agroforestry baseline, deforestation trends, land/tree/carbon tenure) and implementation is feasible;
There are gaps in implementation of agroforestry (ex: complex operations, limited organisation or accountability) that should be identified to improve quality of operations;
Develop some aspects of the agroforestry program to ensure the permanence of benefits (ex: design a timber harvesting plan with smallholder farmers).
02
Approach
Long-term support on implementation of operations: field visit to assess challenges and gaps, regular exchanges to follow up on progress of operations;
Ad hoc strategy support relying on desk reviews, expert consultations, benchmarking, analysis, development of global framework and national adaptations;
Development of internal supports to onboard employees, share regular strategy updates.
03
Key Takeaways
While there is a need to harmonize the strategy across origins, national contexts should carefully be documented and lay the foundations of national guidance in each origin;
There is a lack of scientific alignment on some aspects of agroforestry and it is valuable to collaborate with research institutes in the design phase;
Engaging and training field teams is paramount to quality implementation and results;
Many industry players engaged in agroforestry for compliance purposes through standard tree distribution programs. There is great potential for differentiation through field innovations;
As the carbon market is expanding and the industry is under increasing scrutiny, it is critical to work and ensure the permanence of trees and design long-term strategies with farmers.