The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has expressed serious concerns about the implementation of the new EU Regulations on Deforestation and its potential cost implications for farmers and producing countries.
The new regulations require producing countries to comply with strict measures aimed at protecting the environmental ecosystem, leading to sustainable and ethically sourced cocoa.
While acknowledging the noble intentions behind these regulations, which align with efforts already underway in some countries, such as Ghana, there are significant ethical and economic concerns. Countries like Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Cameroon are grappling with the question of who will bear the extra costs of compliance.
Ghana, for instance, had already initiated and completed the Cocoa Management System (CMS), a critical requirement for the cocoa traceability system, with full roll-out planned for October this year.
However, Joseph Boahen Aidoo emphasized that the cost implications of compliance cannot be overlooked. It has the potential to not only increase the cost of cocoa but also pose social and economic challenges to farmers already struggling with difficult economic conditions in their respective countries.
“Ghana is very much aligned to implementing the European Union regulations but this will come at a cost to farmers and producing countries which is likely to increase the cost of cocoa from Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroun,” Mr Boahen Aidoo emphasised on Tuesday during a panel discussion at the ongoing World Cocoa Conference in Brussels, Belgium.
Mr. Boahen Aidoo emphasized that well before the EU contemplated the new regulations, producing countries, notably Ghana, had already taken steps to tackle the numerous challenges linked to climate change and its impact on production.
“Yes, the regulations are meant to enhance the awareness of sustainable production, but for us we were already bothered about the way climate change was affecting production and disrupting local activities, so even before the idea of the regulations were conceived, Ghana had already started mapping farms which is another element because without the polygon maps you cannot trace the source of the cocoa,” he stressed.
However, he noted that the new regulations overlook issues related to costs and the responsibilities for the expensive technologies and tools required to implement these programs. He pointed out that these costs are prohibitive for individual farmers to bear.
“So now the conclusion is that having done all that, who pays for the cost, right from the polygon maps, bringing in the technology and the training because you need real time data to make it work, which means that since this has not been factored in the new EU regulations, the operator has to pay and this is going to make cocoa from Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroun very expensive.”
In light of this, some argue that the burden of paying for the cost of compliance should be shared, with a portion borne by the wealthier nations that consume the majority of the cocoa produced.
Given the significant investments required for compliance and the economic pressures faced by producing countries, proponents of this view believe that the EU and other developed countries should be willing to support cocoa-producing countries in their efforts to source cocoa ethically and sustainably.