Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/Chapter-7 (section)

=== Box 7.13 | Case Study: Climate-smart Cocoa Production in Ghana ===

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'''Policy objectives'''

i. To promote sustainable intensification of cocoa production and enhance the adaptive capacity of small cocoa producers.

ii. To reduce cocoa-induced deforestation and GHG emissions.

iii. To improve productivity, incomes, and livelihoods of smallholder cocoa producers.

'''Policy mix'''

The climate-smart cocoa (CSC) production programme in Ghana involved distributing shade tree seedlings that can protect cocoa plants from heat and water stress, enhance soil organic matter and water holding capacity of soils, and provide other assistance with agroforestry, giving access to extension services such as agronomic information and agrochemical inputs. The shade tree seedlings were distributed by NGOs, government extension agencies, and the private sector free of charge or at subsidised prices and was expected to reduce pressure on forests for growing cocoa plants. The CSC programme was mainly targeted at small farmers who constitute about 80% of total farm holdings in Ghana. Although the government extension agency (Cocobod) undertook mass spraying or pruning of cocoa farms they found it difficult to access the 800,000 cocoa smallholders spread across the tropical south of the country. The project brought all stakeholders together, in other words, the government, private sector, local farmers and civil society or NGOs to facilitate the sustainable intensification of cocoa production in Ghana. Creation of a community-based governance structure was expected to promote benefit sharing, forest conservation, adaptation to climate change, and enhanced livelihood opportunities.

'''Governance context'''

''Cr'' ''itical enablers''

The role assigned to local government mechanisms such as Ghana’s Community Resource Management Area Mechanisms (CREMAs) was expected to give a voice to smallholders who are an important stakeholder in Ghana’s cocoa sector. CREMAs are inclusive because authority and ownership of natural resources are devolved to local communities who can thus have a voice in influencing CSC policy thereby ensuring equity and adapting CSC to local contexts. However, ensuring the long-term sustainability of CREMAs will help to make them a reliable mechanism for farmers to voice their concerns and aspirations, and ensure their independence as a legitimate governance structure in the long run. The private sector was assigned an important role to popularise climate-smart cocoa production in Ghana. However, whether this will work to the advantage of smallholder cocoa producers needs to be seen.

Critical barriers

The policy intervention overlooks the institutional constraints characteristic of the cocoa sector in Ghana where small farmers are dominant and have skewed access to resources and markets. Lack of secure tenure (tree rights) where the ownership of shade trees and timber vests with the state, bureaucratic and legal hurdles to register trees in their cocoa farms are major constraints that impede realisation of the expected benefits of the CSC programme. This is a great disincentive for small cocoa producers to implement CSC initiatives and nurture the shade tree seedlings and undertake land improvement measures. The state marketing board has the monopoly in buying and marketing of cocoa beans including exports which impeded CREMAs or farming communities from directly selling their produce to MNCs and traders. However, many MNCs have been involved in setting up of CREMA or similar structures, extending premium prices and non-monetary benefits (access to credit, shade tree seedlings, agrochemicals) thus indirectly securing their cocoa supply chains. A biased ecological discourse about the benefits of climate-smart agriculture and sustainable intensive narrative, complexities regarding the optimal shade levels for growing cocoa, and dependence on agrochemicals are issues that affect the success and sustainability of the project intervention. Dominance of private sector players especially MNCs in the sector may be detrimental to the interests of smallholder cocoa producers ( [[#Nasser--2020|Nasser et al. 2020]] ).

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